Technology Museum of l'Empordà

This small, family-run museum is largely unknown, despite the fact it boasts a huge collection of old, rare typewriters and sewing machines. The road leading to the museum doesn’t have much signage and its entrance is small and rather easy to miss. But those who do stumble upon this gem of a museum are in for a treat.

Since it opened 30 years ago, the museum has amassed a collection of more than 3,000 antique machines from the 18th and 19th centuries. Walking through the various rooms is like traveling back in technological time.

The typewriter collection is perhaps the most fascinating. Hundreds of different typewriters fill one of the floors, transporting visitors to an era before computers and smartphones. Browse the collection, and you’ll find rare, one-of-a-kind machines including ones built to type music and ones that use the Moon alphabet. You’ll find anything from enormous prototypes to (relatively) small, portable models.

This particular collection received a bit of fame when typewriter enthusiast Marcin Wichary accidentally came across the museum and described the experience as if it were a dream to his Twitter followers.

But there’s so much more to see beyond the typewriters. The museum also houses a wonderful collection of old sewing machines, clocks, and telephones. The museum’s owners have spent the past few decades traveling to local and faraway markets in search of additional antique treasures to add to the collection.