The building
ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTERISTICS
The Celler Cooperatiu de Cornudella de Montsant is considered one of the “Cathedrals of Wine” that were erected in the Catalan territory, and especially in the province of Tarragona, between the years 1910 and 1920. These wineries were one of the clearest representations of modernism and noucentism in rural areas. Architecture at the service of farming. The main architects of these wineries were Pere Domènech i Roura (son of Lluís Domènech i Montaner) and Cèsar Martinell (disciple of Antoni Gaudí).
Cèsar Martinell (1888-1973) thought up, for Cornudella and for many other towns, a completely rational and innovative winery. A complete building with great architectural spectacularity and at the same time enormous functionality.
On the main facade we highlight the native stone, the brick as a decorative – not only constructive – element, four low ventilation openings, the half-point opening and the magnificent upper area with eight rhomboidal windows on each side and three separate central ones by brick pilasters, which in the upper part form a latticework of exposed brick and decorated with polychrome glazed tiles.
The building consists of a central nave crowned with a gabled trussed roof built with wooden beams and covered with traditional Arabic tiles. The ship can be divided into two large floors where the two levels of tubs are located. The tubs are distributed, on each of the floors, in rows of seven. A total of twenty-eight concrete tubs make up Martinell’s original project, fourteen on each floor. As a peculiarity of this cellar, the pseudo-rectangular shape of the vats on the upper level stands out.
On the lower floor, the tubs are cylindrical and are located in the center of the ship. It is accessed through side corridors covered with parabolic or Gaudinian arches that start from the ground. These arches and the Catalan vault that separates them are what support the weight of the upper tubs.
It is also worth highlighting here the most important parts of a very functional architecture. Firstly, the ventilation openings, so that the harmful gases produced by the fermentation can be expelled and also so that it takes place at the ideal temperature. And finally, the ingenuity of having most of the processes carried out by decantation, that is, by gravity.
