Can Targa

The Can Targa farmhouse (16^th C) can be found in the old fishermen’s neighbourhood of Alella, along with several nearby houses dating back to the 18^th century.This district was annexed to the young municipality of Masnou in 1840, which had in turn become independent from Teià 15 years earlier, after a long and convoluted process that started in 1821.

The name Targa did not come from one of its most famous owners, Captain Josep Sampera, but from the renegade knight and pirate he captured.

One of the last heirs of the house, Josep Ventura i Estapé, set up a distillery there that popularised La Liebre Anis and also served a drink made with white rum, gin, muscatel, anis and mint out of porrons (jug with a long thin spout poured directly into the mouth).  

The farmhouse’s main allure was a fountain that was at the back of the kitchen garden, where the people of Masnou went to stroll and take in the fresh air. Local poet Josep Pujades i Truch even dedicated a poem to the fountain.

It is currently a municipal facility that houses the Can Targa Occupational Therapy Centre for people with mental handicaps.

“La font de can Targa
atrau el vianant:
tot l’any és xamosa,
tostemps té un encant. 

És font cantarina
que canta amb delit,
si canta de dia
refila de nit. 

Al clar de la lluna
crida al rossinyol
i aquest l’acompanya
fins que surt el sol. 

De dia l’enronden
gentils papallons
i mai no li manquen
perfums ni cançons.

––––

La font de can Targa
és clara i vibrant;
la font de can Targa
tota ella és un cant.”

[qa1]

Fragment del poema “La font de can Targa” de Josep Pujadas i Truch, recollit a Masnovines (1936).