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Museu Hidroelèctric de Capdella

La Torre de Capdella

Façade of the museum. The building had been previously used as warehouse Regional Manager’s Office and health centre.

Façade of the museum. The building had been previously used as warehouse Regional Manager’s Office and health centre.

This museum was founded in 2001 with the aim of preserving, celebrating and disseminating the hydroelectric heritage of the Vall Fosca. This is why it is located within the complex of the working hydroelectric power station at Capdella, at the northern end of the valley.

In 2005 the first room, the Emili Riu gallery, named after the founder of Energía Elèctrica de Catalunya (EEC), opened to the general public, and in 2012 the second one, the EEC gallery, was inaugurated.

Through the museum’s displays visitors are shown how electrification came to Catalonia, and how dependent this process was in its early days on the water power provided by the Pyrenees. They are also enabled to understand the social and economic effects the building works for the power station had on this previously very isolated and remote valley, from when they started in 1911.

The visit to the museum includes seeing the still working power station itself, which was the first one to be constructed here. There are five other hydroelectric stations in the valley, dating from 1914, with the last one having been completed in 1985.

The museum It is part of the network of Science and Technology Museums of Catalonia and of the territorial network of Museums of Alt Pirineu and Aran.

SPACES

<p>The workers community became a town: the Capdella power station. The urban nucleus of Molinos increased considerably in size.</p>
The workers’ community. School camps
The workers’ community. School camps
<p>The installation of electricity lines changed the landscape: pylons and electricity cables crossed Catalonia.</p>
The transmission of electricity – 1
The transmission of electricity – 1
<p>If electricity could not be carried over long distances, a power station would never have been built in Vall Fosca.</p>
The transmission of electricity – 2
The transmission of electricity – 2
<p>Traditional life: a cowherd in a summer dwelling called <em>cabanya de Fili&agrave;</em> and women and children at their daily tasks.</p>
Room: Emili Riu. Section: La Vall Fosca in 1910
Room: Emili Riu. Section: La Vall Fosca in 1910
<p>The Regional Manager&rsquo;s office. The furniture is original and the photographs are of the power stations of the valley.</p>
Room: EEC. Section: Director’s Office
Room: EEC. Section: Director’s Office
<p>Materials arrived along the new road and from there were taken to the lakes by funicular and narrow-gauge train.</p>
Room: Emili Riu. Section: Communication
Room: Emili Riu. Section: Communication
<p>Siemens voltmeters in Capdella. These devices come from the power station&rsquo;s original instrument panel.</p>
Room: EEC. Section: A ‘spin’ around electricity
Room: EEC. Section: A ‘spin’ around electricity

OBJECTS

<p>Mailbox at the Molinos camp. Museu Hidroel&egrave;ctric de Capdella.</p>
Mailbox
Mailbox
<p>Undersea cables with varying voltages from Pirelli &amp; Co. Museu Hidroel&egrave;ctric de Capdella.</p>
Undersea cables
Undersea cables
<p>Home transformer cut open to reveal the bobbins inside. Museu Hidroel&egrave;ctric de Capdella.</p>
Home transformer
Home transformer
<p>Men wore capes and a traditional Catalan cap, the red and black <em>barretina</em>; women wore hoods with their dresses, and shepherds carried bags slung over their shoulders. Museu Hidroel&egrave;ctric de Capdella.</p>
A set of items of clothing
A set of items of clothing
<p>A field telephone. This was the main means of communication for engineers working on the building of the dams and the power station. Museu Hidroel&egrave;ctric de Capdella.</p>
Campaign Telephone
Campaign Telephone
<p>A &rsquo;driving wheel&rsquo; from the funicular. Two iron spikes and a wooden handle were used to direct the funicular. Museu Hidroel&egrave;ctric de Capdella.</p>
A ’driving wheel’ from the fun
A ’driving wheel’ from the funicular
<p>Incandescent light bulbs. From left to right: a halogen one, an Edison-type bulb and a bayonet-mounted one. Museu Hidroel&egrave;ctric de Capdella.</p>
Incandescent light bulbs
Incandescent light bulbs

INFORMATION

ADDRESS
FEES
TELEPHONE
WEBSITE
http://www.vallfosca.net
OPENING TIMES
GETTING HERE
EMAIL
ajuntament@torrecapdella.ddl.net

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