- Culture
A gateway to knowledge, science and the environment, thanks to its digital planetarium, its tropical rainforest or its geological wall.
In a spectacular 30,000m² building located next to the former Science Museum of Barcelona, CosmoCaixa offers a detailed look at the evolution of matter and life, with animal and plant specimens, a digital planetarium, an Amazonian forest, a geological wall and lots of activities and exhibitions. CosmoCaixa, heir successor to the Science Museum of Barcelona, is definitely a must-see for all lovers of science and knowledge.
In a space of 1,000 square meters, CosmoCaixa has reproduced in Barcelona a small area of the Amazon Rainforest, with the animals and plants that live in the flooded forest. There are 13 tree, 58 plant and 36 animal species. We can hear the everyday sounds and feel the sensations, in a tour designed to observe the forest from all possible perspectives: a bird's eye view, on land, underground and even underwater. A watering system reproduces the tropical rain and generates exactly the same conditions of heat and humidity of the Amazon.
In the Geological Wall, composed of seven real rock sections extracted from diverse parts of the world, and with a total weight of one hundred tons, we can know the history of our planet and the processes and phenomena that have produced its current shape. Thus, we find slates from León, sandstones from Berga, Mallorca dunes, volcanic materials from Olot, Besalú calcareous rocks and sediments from Brazil, formed 260 million years ago at the bottom of a glacial lake.
The Planetarium, with its 14-meter-diameter dome, gives us greater understanding of the universe. Thanks to its astronomical simulation and 3D state-of-the-art projection system, we can travel through space and history. The Room of Matter brings us into the essential element of universe, from Inert Matter, particles, waves and physical laws, moving towards Living Matter, Homo sapiens and the emergence of culture and civilization, language and writing.
The ancient building of the Science Museum of Barcelona was built in 1904. It is a masterpiece by Josep Domenech i Estapà, the same architect who designed other prominent buildings in Barcelona, such as the Hospital Clínic, the Fabra Observatory, the Palace of Justice or the Model Prison.
