On returning from a trip to Italy in 1892, he bougut a couple of terraced fishermen’s cottages that had been built on the edge of a rocky coastine. Then he comissioned he architect Francesc Rogent to built a new house on the ground where the cottages once stood, making use of some elements of the old castle. The ground floor was the living area and the first floor was filled with a collection of the forged ironwork that he had built up in his youth. Rogent employed remains of Sitges’ old medieval castle.

Today, the collection which arouses most interest is the painting and drawing collection. Works by the most outstanding artist of the Modernista period can be seen here. Artist such as Ramos Casas, Aleix Clapés, Pere Ferran, Joan Llimona, Arcadi Mas i Fontdevila, Joaquim Miró, Isidre Nonell, Darío de Rogoyos, Miquel Utrillo and Ignacio Zuloaga. There are also Works by younger artist such as Hermen Anlada i Camarasa and Picasso. Rusiñol’s work is represented by a wide range of styles, from Realism to Symbolism.

Music played a major role in the life of Cau Ferrat. The most well-Known musicians of that time had been there at some stage. The first was Rusiñol’s friend Enric Morera, followed by Albéniz, Granados and Millet. On Cau Ferrat’s piano, Manuel de Falla composed part of the ballet El Amor Brujo and Noches en los jardines de España.

Santiago Rusiñol

Rusiñol was an outstanding painter and a renowned satirical writer, novelist and dramatist. He lived in Paris when impressionism made its appearance. He employed many elements of impressionism as far as technique, light and colours were concerned. However, he developed his own private and lyrical world. Rusiñol cosidered painting to be a spiritual language that transmitted his poetry rather than a medium that reflected the real world.

Rusiñol the collector

Rusiñol was one of the leading Spanish art collectors and the leading collector of El Greco´s work. At Cau Ferrat there are two of his paintings, discovered by Zuloaga in Paris. These were carried in procession from the station to Cau Ferrat during the celebration of the Festival Modernista of 1894.

Cau Ferrat is the end-product of Rusiñol´s explorations and his friends´ involvement over many years. Rusiñol bought paintings, wood-carvings, ceramics, archaelogical pieces, drawings and forged ironwork by another famous Modernista artist, Alexander de Riquer.

Rusiñol´s decorative vision transformed Cau Ferrat into a unique place. The medieval-like setting, commonplace elements (with Catalan flooring tiles dating from the 15th to the 20th century), Rusiñol´s own works and those of his friends come together to form a harmonic whole.

Dr. Pérez Rosales´ Donation

The donation includes wall paintings beloning to the Romanesque period, altarpieces and Renaissance wood-carvings.

The mirador is to Maricel what the fountain room is to Cau Ferrat: a window overlooking the sea and one of the reference points during the tour around the museum. It contains some excellents exhibits of modern Catalan sculpture which include works by Joan Rebull (Aurora, Repòs and Gitana ) and Josep Llimona (Desconsol).

What used to be the vestibule in Charles Deering´s residence once again contains some original canvas panels painted by Josep Maria Sert in 1917 representing the allegories of World War I. Deering also took these paintings with him in 1921. Purchased by Dr. J. Pérez Rosales, they were returned to their original location in 1968.

The Municipal Art Gallery

The Maricel Museum also includes a collection of paintings by artist conected with Sitges, from Romanticism to the 20th century (with painters such as Pere Pruna or Artur Carbonell), whilst taking in the pioneers of the luminist school and the grand masters of Modernisme.

The decoration of the Cau Ferrat bar is worth of note. In 1895, the café Continental on Passeig de la Ribera was turned into the Cau Ferrat bar. Several artists living in Sitges took part in the decoration of the new establishment. Miquel Utrillo painted a work representing the "Sitges of the Past", a medieval fantasy that depicts a galley off Sitges castle.

Arcadi Mas i Fontdevila and Joaquim de Miró painted the genre scenes "Fishing" and "The Malvasia Harvest". The cornucopias painted by Antoni Mirall and Càndid Duran completed the ensemble.

The art gallery also exhibits a portraits of Charles Deering painted by Ramon Casas.

The Emerencià Roig Collection

Finally, the museum also houses the Emerencià Roig i Raventós (1881-1935) seafaring collection. Emerencià Roig was a specialist in seafaring themes and a historian of old Sitges. The collection, donated to Sitges Town Council in 1935, gathers together a series of drawings and models, nautical instruments and various elements of fishing tackle.

Romanticism represented the epitome of the individual in all fields of human activity.

This was also true for architecture and interior design. Both men and women had a desire to express their personalities and their tastes in their surroundings. Through objects and furniture from different places and of different places and of different styles brought together in harmonious whole, their homes demonstrated what the people living in them were like, or what they wanted to be like. In a Romantic house, each little corner hid a secret, each object held a souvenir of a moment in a person´s life. From these clues, we can rebuild and understand the past.

Museu Romàntic "Can Llopis"

The Museu Romàntic "Can Llopis" is a perfectly preserved 19th century house which allows us to take a closer look at the lifestyle of a family of Catalan householders who lived their splendour during the years of Romanticism.

It was built at the end of the 18th century in a neo-classical style with sober, elegant lines and very little decoration. Faithful to the Mediterranean tradition, the house has a central patio with a staircase leading to the main living quarters.

The interior design shows how tastes changed from the time the building was built - when they were strongly influence by aristocratic styles - to the triumph of the forms of bourgeois Romanticism.

Technical Progress

The house displays some of the technical advances of the XIX century, like a 14-seater carriage and several velocipedes (one of which is quite sophisticated, with rubber tyres and pedals). The progress made in lighting techniques can also be traced throughout the different rooms, from the chandeliers with wax candles to gas lights.

The Llopis Family

A family of seafaring origin, the Llopis family married into a family of rural landowners in the mid- 18th century: the Falç family. The Llopis family dedicated their time to family property and the vineyards. The Llopis wine was mades in the house´s cellar and was exported to several countries in America. The last member of the lineage, Manuel Llopis i de Casades, donated the family home to the Autonomous Government of Catalonia in 1935.

Can Llopis was opened in 1949. It has subsequently been expanded and now also contains series of dioramas that illustrate the different periods of life of the last century and traditional Catalan folklore, and a collection of dolls by the artist Lola Anglada, which includes over 400 pieces from different countries, many of which date from the Romantic period.