Cau Ferrat and Maricel Museums

The Cau Ferrat was the house-studio that the painter Santiago Rusiñol set up in 1893 on the rocks of carrer de Fonollar, and it has been a public museum since 1933. The same ticket opens the Museu de Maricel, next door. Together they are the essential cultural visit in Sitges, and between the two there is an hour and a half or two hours' worth.

The Cau Ferrat

Rusiñol gathered here what he collected: old painting, wrought iron, ceramics, glass, archaeology, sculpture and furniture. To that is added the modern art of his circle, with work by Rusiñol himself, Ramon Casas, Picasso, Ramon Pichot, Arcadi Mas i Fondevila, Zuloaga, Darío de Regoyos, Manolo Hugué and Pau Gargallo. The parties he held with musicians, writers and painters gave it the name Temple of Modernisme.

What is special is that you see it as a house, not as a museum of display cases: the walls are covered with ceramics and ironwork, and the rooms look straight out to the sea. The building was refurbished between 2010 and 2014 to recover its structure and original elements. For children aged 7 to 10 there is a family clue-hunt game.

The Museu de Maricel

The neighbouring museum takes a full tour of art from the 10th century to mid-20th-century figurative work, with the collections of Dr Jesús Pérez-Rosales and of the Town of Sitges. It starts on the second floor with Romanesque and Gothic sculpture and altarpieces; on the first, in Charles Deering's old bedroom, painting and furniture from the 17th to the 19th century, and then Romanticism, realism, the Sitges Luminist School, Modernisme and Noucentisme. There is a room with the paintings that decorated the old Cau Ferrat brewery.

On the ground floor are the old Gothic chapel of the Sant Joan hospital and the viewpoint, the most spectacular room, with sea views and large Noucentista sculptures by Joan Rebull. The visit ends in the Sala Sert, with large mural paintings that are an allegory of the First World War.

Opening hours and tickets

They are open Tuesday to Sunday, from 10:00 to 17:00 from November to March and from 10:00 to 19:00 from April to October; they are closed on Mondays. The joint ticket costs €12, with a reduced rate of €8 for pensioners, students with a Carnet Jove, large or single-parent families and other groups. Under-17s go in free, and the first Wednesday of each month is free for everyone. With the Fundació Stämpfli and the Palau de Maricel there is a combined ticket for €17.

The Palau de Maricel, right opposite, can only be seen on a guided tour at fixed times. Afterwards, continue along the seafront promenade or eat in the old town: the Restaurante Maricel is on the promenade.