Torre Vella de Cal Pons

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Lluís Casals
Fons Fotogràfic Lluís Casals / Arxiu Històric del COAC
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Built at the same time as the Pons lime factory and the flats of the colony, the architect is unknown. It has 225 m² distributed over two floors, attic and basement. The building has a square ground plan with a projecting body on the elevation and ground plan. The main façade faces south and has a double staircase leading to the entrance, while to the west is the entrance at street level. The exterior is entirely plastered and the only decorative elements are the door and window frames, which are made of brick. The heads of the beams of the barbican are spherical-shaped finials, reminiscent of the Gothic style. Inside, the walls are decorated with geometric borders, while the ceilings are decorated with a series of plaster vegetal themes.

The promoter of Cal Pons - one of the most interesting industrial colonies in Catalonia in terms of urban planning and architecture - was Josep Pons i Enrich, born in Manresa in 1811, descendant of a Manresa family linked to the silk industry during the 18th century. Alongside the industrial space, construction also began on the dwellings where the workers of Cal Pons were to live. These dwellings, built in two different stages (1875 and 1890), form Carrer d’Orient, the most emblematic street in the colony. The stewards and foremen lived in flats attached to the factory, while the dwellings on Carrer de la Baixada and Plaça del Centre, where the shop, café, inn, bread oven and other services were located, were occupied by families linked to the colony's services.
One of the most important buildings in Cal Pons, due to the services it housed, was the one built next to the church in 1893. This space included the school, the nuns‘ convent, the girls’ residence and the theatre. However, the most emblematic buildings - due to their spectacular nature - of the colony were and still are others: the church and the owners' towers. The church, inaugurated in 1887, was described by the press of the time as the ‘Cathedral of the Alt Llobregat’. The two towers, located around a garden, were built before 1885 (the old one) and in 1897 (the new one). The whole of the colony under construction was surrounded by a wall about two metres high with three gates and two doors. The gatekeepers and the watchman ensured that no worker entered or left the perimeter of the colony after 20.00 or 21.00 (depending on the time of year). This wall was demolished during the Spanish Civil War and was never rebuilt. The 1880s, while the colony was growing and the factory was already working at full capacity, were very conflictive years. The workers of Cal Pons - and of all the Catalan textile colonies and factories of the time - had to endure very hard working conditions: twelve hours a day, or more, in a factory full of dangers and discomforts and constantly having to listen to the noise of the looms and machinery. The workers of Cal Pons rebelled against this daily reality on several occasions. The most important mobilisation was the strike of 1890, which affected most of the factories and colonies of Llobregat. As a result of this strike, 150 Cal Pons workers were dismissed and expelled from the colony.
In 1893, Josep Pons i Enrich died and three years later his heir, Ignasi Pons, too. From then until 1921, Lluís G. Pons, brother of the colony's founder, became the strong man of the family and the owner of Cal Pons. The situation of the colony - already built and consolidated - and the figure of the director of the factory - who controlled the economic functioning of the company and the maintenance of order and ‘social peace’ and who had his own villa from 1900 onwards - allowed Mr. Pons to focus on his political activity. It was during these years when Lluís Pons became the owner of Cal Pons that the paternalistic relationship with the workers was consolidated. Paternalism was based on an unwritten pact whereby the owner offered work, a flat, food, services, stability and security to his workers in exchange for them limiting themselves to work, obey and not break the ‘social peace’.

(Continuation of Story): Like most of the colonies in Berguedà, Cal Pons remained full of life until the 1960s. From then on, things began to evolve rapidly. The factory continued to operate until 1992, but from the 1970s, and especially during the 1980s, the signs of the crisis in the textile sector were felt and the colony model also went into decline: many people left Cal Pons and the services were closing. With the closure of the factory, the whole of the colony - except for the turbine - was repossessed. When it was put up for sale - by public auction at the end of the 1990s – the Puig-reig Town Council acquired a large part of the colony's spaces.

Source: Mapes de Patrimoni Cultural. Diputació de Barcelona (diba)

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Torre Vella de Cal Pons

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Built at the same time as the Pons lime factory and the flats of the colony, the architect is unknown. It has 225 m² distributed over two floors, attic and basement. The building has a square ground plan with a projecting body on the elevation and ground plan. The main façade faces south and has a double staircase leading to the entrance, while to the west is the entrance at street level. The exterior is entirely plastered and the only decorative elements are the door and window frames, which are made of brick. The heads of the beams of the barbican are spherical-shaped finials, reminiscent of the Gothic style. Inside, the walls are decorated with geometric borders, while the ceilings are decorated with a series of plaster vegetal themes. The promoter of Cal Pons - one of the most interesting industrial colonies in Catalonia in terms of urban planning and architecture - was Josep Pons i Enrich, born in Manresa in 1811, descendant of a Manresa family linked to the silk industry during the 18th century. Alongside the industrial space, construction also began on the dwellings where the workers of Cal Pons were to live. These dwellings, built in two different stages (1875 and 1890), form Carrer d’Orient, the most emblematic street in the colony. The stewards and foremen lived in flats attached to the factory, while the dwellings on Carrer de la Baixada and Plaça del Centre, where the shop, café, inn, bread oven and other services were located, were occupied by families linked to the colony's services. One of the most important buildings in Cal Pons, due to the services it housed, was the one built next to the church in 1893. This space included the school, the nuns‘ convent, the girls’ residence and the theatre. However, the most emblematic buildings - due to their spectacular nature - of the colony were and still are others: the church and the owners' towers. The church, inaugurated in 1887, was described by the press of the time as the ‘Cathedral of the Alt Llobregat’. The two towers, located around a garden, were built before 1885 (the old one) and in 1897 (the new one). The whole of the colony under construction was surrounded by a wall about two metres high with three gates and two doors. The gatekeepers and the watchman ensured that no worker entered or left the perimeter of the colony after 20.00 or 21.00 (depending on the time of year). This wall was demolished during the Spanish Civil War and was never rebuilt. The 1880s, while the colony was growing and the factory was already working at full capacity, were very conflictive years. The workers of Cal Pons - and of all the Catalan textile colonies and factories of the time - had to endure very hard working conditions: twelve hours a day, or more, in a factory full of dangers and discomforts and constantly having to listen to the noise of the looms and machinery. The workers of Cal Pons rebelled against this daily reality on several occasions. The most important mobilisation was the strike of 1890, which affected most of the factories and colonies of Llobregat. As a result of this strike, 150 Cal Pons workers were dismissed and expelled from the colony. In 1893, Josep Pons i Enrich died and three years later his heir, Ignasi Pons, too. From then until 1921, Lluís G. Pons, brother of the colony's founder, became the strong man of the family and the owner of Cal Pons. The situation of the colony - already built and consolidated - and the figure of the director of the factory - who controlled the economic functioning of the company and the maintenance of order and ‘social peace’ and who had his own villa from 1900 onwards - allowed Mr. Pons to focus on his political activity. It was during these years when Lluís Pons became the owner of Cal Pons that the paternalistic relationship with the workers was consolidated. Paternalism was based on an unwritten pact whereby the owner offered work, a flat, food, services, stability and security to his workers in exchange for them limiting themselves to work, obey and not break the ‘social peace’. (Continuation of Story): Like most of the colonies in Berguedà, Cal Pons remained full of life until the 1960s. From then on, things began to evolve rapidly. The factory continued to operate until 1992, but from the 1970s, and especially during the 1980s, the signs of the crisis in the textile sector were felt and the colony model also went into decline: many people left Cal Pons and the services were closing. With the closure of the factory, the whole of the colony - except for the turbine - was repossessed. When it was put up for sale - by public auction at the end of the 1990s – the Puig-reig Town Council acquired a large part of the colony's spaces.
Colònia Cal Pons

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El conjunt de la colònia Pons es caracteritza per ser una de les colònies tèxtils que neix i es forma en un període relativament curt (1875-1910) de temps la qual cosa fa que presenti una gran unitat. Les dues torres dels propietaris, la del director i l'església són els edificis més emblemàtics de cal Pons, juntament amb el jardí. L'any 1908 el rei Alfons XIII es desplaçà a la conca del Llobregat i feu una visita a la colònia Pons. Església de Sant Josep L'església és de planta de creu llatina de 32 metres de llarg. La nau principal és coberta amb volta de creueria, i les capelles laterals fan de contrafort de la nau central. A l'encreuament de la nau principal amb el transsepte s'alça un cimbori octogonal. L'absis poligonal té un deambulatori que porta a la cripta i a la sagristia. El 1879 s'aixeca el campanar aïllat i el 1907 es construí el panteó familiar, en el qual foren enterrats Lluís Pons i Enrich i la seva esposa, Anna Roca. Exteriorment, l'església presenta un aspecte altiu reforçat pel cimbori, el campanar i el conjunt de pinacles. La façana principal, orientada a migdia, és de carreus ben tallats, la resta de l'edifici combina harmònicament la pedra devastada amb els maons. Es tracta d'un edifici neogòtic que fou bastit en setze mesos, obra de l'arquitecte Josep Torres i Argullol. L'interior fou decorat per Francesc Morell, germà del director de la fàbrica en aquell moment. Escola, convent, teatre i casa de les noies. Els edificis consten de dos pisos: a la planta baixa condicionada per a escoles i el superior per al convent, el pis del capellà i la residència de noies treballadores. Com la resta d'edificis de la colònia, els materials constructius són: la pedra pels murs i el maó per les finestres i les portes. La torre vella (bastida abans de 1885) i la torre nova (inaugurada el 1897) són edificis monumentals d'estil historicista medieval. Van ser plantejats com castells medievals envoltats de jardí. La torre vella fou la primera que es construí, es tracta d'un massís però esvelt edifici, amb un cos central molt marcat. Ressalta l'escala de volta catalana. És d'estil eclèctic i goticitzant. La torre nova és una construcció de grans proporcions bastida sobre un penyal al final dels jardins de la colònia. En la seva estructura predomina el cos central per damunt dels dos laterals. La façana principal, amb una doble escalinata, està orientada a tramuntana. Els murs exteriors combinen el maó, l'arrebossat i els mosaics. Presenta molts detalls decoratius de tipus medieval: capitells amb el bestiari, decoració floral, gàrgoles, arcuacions cegues en el ràfec de la teulada..., Al rebedor hi ha unes pintures al·legòriques que fan referència als continents d'Amèrica, Àfrica, Àsia i Europa. Es tracta d'un paisatge de fons amb una figura femenina que porta algun element que fa referència a cada continent. En la representació d'Europa, el paisatge de fons és la colònia Pons vist des del peu del Llobregat. Fou residència dels propietaris inicialment de forma continuada, després va fer funcions de segona residència i a mitjan segle XX es va subhastar el mobiliari i és habilitar com a fàbrica de tovalloles. Es desconeix qui fou l'autor d'aquests dos edificis. Sembla, però, que podria haver estat Josep Torres i Argullol o Alexandre Soler i March arquitectes que van treballar per la família Pons. El xalet del director fou construït abans de 1900, és més auster i de dimensions més reduïdes, i tampoc se sap qui en va ser l'autor. El jardí Quan es dissenyà la colònia es va pensar a convertir la finca en un jardí tancat que l'aïllava del món exterior. El jardí, de fet, era d'ús privat pels propietaris de la colònia i la família del director. Però quan la família Pons no hi era els treballadors podien disposar del jardí i el bosc annex. En aquest espai hi havia una gran diversitat d'espècies vegetals (algunes, però han desaparegut): plataners, til·lers, moreres, troanes, castanyers d'índies, palmeres, pollancres, alzines, avets ... Al jardí privat de la torre nova destaquen dues glorietes de 1900 -fetes de maó i fusta- que tenen vista sobre el Llobregat i la colònia. La colònia fou fins al anys 50 i 60 del segle XX el centre cultural més actiu del municipi de Puig-reig. Es publicava la revista "Colònia Pons" i es creà l'Escola de la Llar i l'Escola del Treball vinculada a l'Escola Industrial de Barcelona. Els treballadors de la fàbrica rebien una formació, que a nivell comarcal constituïen una autèntica avantguarda. El 25 de març de 1886 s'inicià la construcció de l'església de la colònia Pons advocada a la Mare de Déu de Montserrat. Es consagrà el 10 d'agost de 1897. Es construí al mateix temps que la gran fàbrica, els habitatges dels treballadors i les dues torres. A mitjan segle XX, i sobre tot arran de la Guerra Civil, s'abandonaren les torres on residien els amos i començà un progressiu deteriorament de les activitats culturals i del parc, en el qual hi havia una interessant col·lecció d'aus exòtiques. Els moments d'esplendor de la colònia Pons coincideixen amb els primers temps de la seva existència, entre 1880 i 1930.