The Ter Museum

The museum is about the industrial history and biodiversity of the River Ter, which runs through the town of Manlleu north of Barcelona. It occupies the three-storey Sanglas cotton factory, built in 1841. It is near the eastern end of the Passeig del Ter on the riverside. Many textile factories used waterpower here from the mid-nineteenth century. The museum shows the process of cleaning, carding and spinning to make cotton yarn with examples of surviving machinery. A permanent exhibition explains the use of the river for power: two turbines are still in operation generating electricity. Further displays explain the process of industrialisation and its impact on society through stories about manufacturers and workers, trades unions, culture, education and sport. The final section is about the landscapes, hydrology, ecology and sustainable management of the Mediterranean rivers. The museum was opened by the city council in 2004 and is part of mNACTEC, the Museums of Science and Technology of Catalunya.