Plaça Gran
You are at the heart of medieval Mataró. The region’s farmers have come to sell their products in this square for centuries. The square’s current appearance corresponds to the extension works made in 1773.
I recommend you take a stroll and admire some of the historical buildings gathered in this place. For example, Can Llorell, a 16th-century building that retains several late Gothic windows, one twinned, with tracery and sculpted busts. It also highlights a shield flanked by the figures of two children and framed by a border.
On the other corner is Can Bosch, an eighteenth-century house with a large vaulted portal and windows framed with stone. It is easily recognised because it has a built-in public fountain and a coat of arms of Mataró on top.
And, on the east side, the Vilallonga House, built in 1846 under the orders of classicism, presides over the square. This large building, owned by one of the most important families in the city in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, was a courthouse for some time.
One curiosity. In front of this construction you can also see two monumental street lamps. These are the only street lamps preserved in the city from its first public electric lighting.
But if there is one thing that personalises this market is “El rengle”, the grouping of stalls in the middle of the square. This construction was the answer to an ancient vindication of sellers who wanted a place to shelter from the rain, cold and sun.
The project was started in 1891 by the architect Emili Cabañes. And was concluded a year later by Josep Puig i Cadafalch. The municipal architect reformed the roof, incorporating modernist touches: a semi-cylindrical roof with ceramic cladding, exposed brick and ornamental wrought iron details. Today, this square is one of the most emblematic in the city.
