The Can Lletres Permanent Training Centre is the current name of one of Llinars’ oldest stately homes, which was first known as Can Gorostegui and later as Cal Baró de la Barre. In 1985, the Llinars Municipal Council purchased the estate, which, until 2009, served as a social club for senior citizens.
The history of this location likely dates to 1832, to the existence of a house, as reflected on the building’s façades. In 1890, a family of holidaymakers, the Gorosteguis, bought the estate and, in 1896, remodelled it, creating a two-storey house divided into two structures.
In the mid-1930s, the family heiress, unable to repay her debts, transferred the property to the lender, who, in 1942, sold it to the Baron of La Barre’s wife. This family had by then been residing in Llinars for a number of years. The estate remained in their hands for four decades, until the Llinars Municipal Council acquired it in 1985.
Following this, the house was used as a social club for senior citizens, where the town’s elderly residents would meet to participate in activities or have a chat in the cafeteria. In 1990, the external multipurpose room was built to increase the building’s capacity. It remained a social club until 2009, when the Government of Catalonia finished construction of the new and modern community centre, better suited to the needs of this demographic.
So began a new phase in the building’s history: in 2012, it became the Municipal Permanent Training Centre. Can Lletres is an open, multifunctional venue that offers courses on a host of different subjects, formal education, workshops, talks and cultural activities spanning the entire educational spectrum.
The estate’s large garden is home to a series of beautiful deer sculpted by Frederic Marès, which originally decorated his own garden.
The building greets us with large LETTERS, graphic symbols that advocate the use of both written and spoken language, a source of communication in the world of education and society.