University
Some historians claim, with absolute certainty, that the University of Cervera is the Baroque civil building more important in the South of Europe. Built following the orders of Philip V, as Agustí Duran i Sanpere claims, it must be understood “not as a token of peace, but as a levy imposed by the winner”. The suppression of all Catalan universities, and its centralisation (so Borbone) in a single establishment was without doubt a control mechanism over the Catalan intellectual class.
The first stone of the building was placed in 1718, but the work wasn’t finished until 1780, in a process that was slow and, most of all, excessively expensive for the royal vaults. A monumental site and —despite its perfect proportions—disproportionate with respect to the small village where it was placed and the duration it had, with the suppression of its activity in 1842.
The rotundity of the architectural plan, restrained, rationalist and robust, is complemented with the subtle sculptural work carried out by the sculptor from Manresa Jaume Padró since 1775. His stamp can be seen in several parts of the building, but it is chiefly in the retable of the auditorium where the marbles and alabasters fly with the nimbleness and delicacy of an absolute mastery. The job of Padró in Cervera, from where he wouldn’t leave until his death in 1804, permeated into several spaces of the cities, such as the church of Santa Maria (Saint Mary) or the Paeria building (the town hall).
