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What to see and do in Caldes de Montbui

What to see and do in Caldes de Montbui (Vallès Oriental, Barcelona): 7 places across monuments, nature, activities and curiosities, with a photo and a Google Maps location.

1 Villages · 3 Monuments · 1 Activities · 1 Curiosities · 1 Food and drink

When to go to Caldes de Montbui: festival calendar

October: Caldes de Montbui Main Festival (October 9)

How far each place is from the centre of Caldes de Montbui

Wall and Tower of la Presó 450 m
The Red Tower 2 km

Towns near Caldes de Montbui

Spain › Catalonia › Barcelona › Vallès Oriental › Caldes de Montbui

What to see and do in Caldes de Montbui

Caldes de Montbui
Village
Caldes de Montbui is a spa town in the Vallès Oriental, about 35 kilometres north of Barcelona, with 18,567 inhabitants, known for its hot waters since Roman times. The name of the municipality refers to these waters, which emerge at 74 degrees, among the hottest in Europe; the Romans already built baths there, partly preserved, with the best-preserved Roman baths on the peninsula, mentioned by the writer Pliny the Elder in his account of Roman Hispania. In the town square, next to the Roman baths, stands the Font del Lleó, built in 1581, and the Manolo Hugué museum, a 20th-century sculptor and friend of Picasso. The parish church of Santa María, with its Baroque doorway, was built between 1589 and 1714.
Roman Baths of Caldes de Montbui
Monument
Remains of Roman baths built beside the hot waters of Caldes, declared Bien de Interés Cultural (Spain's highest level of heritage protection) in 1931. The original pool is preserved, measuring 13.5 by 6.9 meters, made of opus signinum (lime and ceramic fragments), and a gallery with four red sandstone arches surrounding it to the north; the south gallery was rebuilt during the restoration. The pool, located in the basement of the building of the old Can Rius spa, remained buried between 1955 and 1956 and was later recovered through an intervention by the Barcelona Provincial Council, completed with a full renovation in 1985-1986. It stands on the Font del Lleó square and can today be visited as a historic monument.
Wall and Tower of la Presó
Monument
The wall and the Presó tower are remains of the medieval walled precinct of Caldes de Montbui, documented since 1102, whose winding course can still be traced in the town's historic center. The best-preserved part is the defensive tower of one of the town's old gates, reused as a prison, with a ground floor and two upper floors, masonry walls and ceramic-piece vaults, and a flat, walkable roof. The wall, which was reinforced during the Carlist Wars, originally had four gates facing the cardinal points, expanded to five in the 18th century, each with its own chapel. It is declared Bien Cultural de Interés Nacional (Catalonia's highest level of heritage protection).
The Red Tower
Monument
La Torre Roja rises near the top of the hill that bears its name, on the border between Caldes de Montbui and Sentmenat, and shares its plateau with the remains of a 5th-century BC Iberian settlement. The site, formerly called Puig Castellar, was Iberian and later Roman, and remained occupied in the Middle Ages. The fortification consists of two concentric towers: an outer one, 10.5 meters in diameter, and an inner circular one that projects 1.40 meters above the first and may date from around the 10th century; both preserve courses of opus spicatum, and the inner one retains traces of exterior plaster. There is no agreement on its origin: some believe the inner tower was added inside an earlier Roman tower, others that it was the other way around. The base, with regular ashlar blocks, recalls Roman constructions.
Caldes de Montbui Main Festival
Activity
The Festa Major i Capvuitada of Caldes de Montbui has been celebrated since 1861 around the second Sunday of October, the feast of the Mare de Déu del Remei; the Fundació Santa Susanna also organises a raffle and displays of castellers, giants, stick-dancers and devils during the "capvuitada" (eight-day festival).
Thermal Tradition of Caldes de Montbui
Curiosity
Font de la Teula and other hot-water springs exploited since Roman times, among the hottest in Europe, with outflows reaching 74°C; the waters are sodium chloride and carbonate in composition, recommended for rheumatic and respiratory ailments and stress. The Romans called the place Aquae Calidae and built baths there that retain a 2nd-century vaporarium, among the best preserved on the peninsula.
Carquinyols of Caldes de Montbui
Food and drink
Twice-baked biscuit made with egg, milk, sugar, flour and whole almonds, of dark glossy crust and very crunchy texture. Its authorship has been attributed to Caldes since the beginning of the nineteenth century and it is taken accompanied by sweet wine.