Where to Stay in Mataró, Catalunya

What is Mataró known for?

Roman remains from the ancient town surface in the compact centre of Mataró, where the Roman villa of Can Llauder and the Mataró Museum hold what has been recovered. Modernisme came far later. Casa Coll i Regàs and Casa Garí carry that strand alongside Gaudí's Nau Gaudí and buildings by Josep Puig i Cadafalch, while the Baroque Basilica of Santa Maria anchors the old streets between them.

Long sandy beaches and a marina finish the picture.

What are the main landmarks in Mataró?

Rome left the first layer. The Roman villa of Can Llauder and the remains of Iluro lie under the modern grid, and the Mataró Museum keeps the finds. Baroque follows.

The Basilica of Santa Maria dominates the old town, with Santa Anna de Mataró and Sant Joan i Sant Josep de Mataró behind it. Modernisme adds Casa Coll i Regàs, Casa Garí and Torre Amatller. The Velòdrom de Mataró and the Hermitage of St. Simon sit further out.

What is the history of Mataró?

Iluro came first. The Roman town under Mataró left the villa of Can Llauder and the finds now kept in the Mataró Museum, and the compact historic centre still sits directly over it. Christian building took the next turn.

The Basilica of Santa Maria carries the Baroque heritage of the old town, while Santa Anna de Mataró, Sant Joan i Sant Josep de Mataró and the Hermitage of St. Simon fill in a religious map that reaches out to Santa Helena d'Agell on the higher ground. Knitwear made the modern city. The Can Marfà Knitwear Museum holds the record of the textile trade that gave the place its commercial weight in the Maresme, and the collection is one reason the museum map here is not only Roman.

Modernisme followed. Casa Coll i Regàs, Casa Garí and Torre Amatller date from that period, Gaudí's Nau Gaudí stands among them, and Josep Puig i Cadafalch left further buildings in the same city. Mataró became the capital of the Maresme.

The town works as a commercial, cultural and university centre on the coast between Cabrera de Mar and Sant Andreu de Llavaneres, with the marina and the beaches busy through the whole year rather than one season of it.

Where is Mataró?

The Maresme coast holds it. Mataró covers roughly 22.5 square kilometres between Cabrera de Mar and Sant Andreu de Llavaneres, 30 kilometres northeast of Barcelona and south of the Costa Brava. Sand runs the whole seafront.

Behind the town the ground climbs towards the Hermitage of St. Simon and Santa Helena d'Agell on the slopes above.

What is the climate of Mataró?

The Mediterranean does the regulating. Water on the doorstep evens out the temperate year along the Maresme, which is why the beaches and the marina at Mataró stay in use across the seasons instead of a few weeks of summer. Winter walking is easy.

The Basilica of Santa Maria and the Mataró Museum sit close enough together to fill a wet afternoon.

How do you get to Mataró?

Barcelona is 30 kilometres down the coast. Train and road both follow the Maresme shoreline, which puts Mataró on a direct run along the water from the city rather than on any inland route. Neighbours sit either side.

Cabrera de Mar and Sant Andreu de Llavaneres flank the municipality, and the Costa Brava begins further along the same coast.