In Berguedà we have a unique concentration of textile colonies, 14 colonies and the factory of Cal Metre, which began to be built during the second half of the 19th century and which we can find near the Llobregat river.

Thousands of people have lived and worked in the colonies and nowadays they are a valuable heritage site that allows us to remember one of the essential chapters of the industrialization process in Catalonia.

In all colonies there were two very different spaces: the industrial space, where the factory was located and the elements that allowed to transform the water from the river into energy that moved the machinery (the lock, the channel and the turbine). Near the factory, or a little farther, the working families of the colony lived there. In this space, in addition to housing for the workers, the owners also built all kinds of services and equipment for the use of workers: bakery, butcher's shop, fish shop, store, laundry room, school, residence for working girls , church, cafe, theater, sports area, etc.

Presiding the whole of the colony, he emphasized, often at a raised point, the tower of the master.

Nowadays you can visit 5 spaces related to the world of colonies: Museu de la Colonia Vidal, The Tower of the Master of Viladomiu Nou, the Church of the Colonia de Cal Pons, Casa Teixidor Bassacs and the Cultural Route of the Atmella de Merola colony.

Another way to actively know this heritage is walking or pedaling along the Llobregat Textile Colonies Route, which is 32 km in total, which starts at Pont de Pedret and ends at Balsareny, bordering on the Llobregat river and following the white and yellow marks PR-C144.