The economic resurgence of the Alt Penedès after the disastrous “Phylloxera plague” set the stage for the arrival of Modernisme, the Catalan version of the artistic and social current called Art Nouveau that was beginning to prevail across Europe. Agricultural landowners and merchants became the patrons of the Modernista trends and commissioned buildings that reflected their financial status. At the end of the 19th century, Vilafranca began its transformation from a rural town into a small city, with new buildings making their appearance on its old squares and streets, changing its traditional image. In short, a new town model came to be designed. Celebrated architects replaced the master builders in the construction of the various buildings, and the figures of Santiago Güell, Eugeni Campllonch and Antoni Pons arose. Indeed, Güell and Campllonch stood behind the design of the great majority of the town’s most ambitious architectural projects.

The Modernista architecture in Vilafranca combines Catalan folk architecture with the trends characteristic of Modernisme, including the use of new materials and a new concept of space. On this tour of the Modernista Vilafranca, one may observe the striking naturalistic decoration of the façades, the use of face brick in some buildings, stained-glass windows, and wrought-iron railings in windows and balconies.

Modernisme also encompassed other aspects of art such as painting, sculpture and street-furniture design. Walking along Carrer de Santa Maria, one comes upon some unique pieces in the form of streetlamps. Later, on entering the Crypt of the Basilica, one will see an excellent sculptural group by Josep Llimona and in the Vilfranca Museum there are drawings by Ricard Opisso in addition to works by other artists.

The Vilafranca Route forms an itinerary that allows one to learn about the impact of the Modernista cultural movement at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th through the new symbols of progress and modernity that this innovative tendency created.