Penedès

The part of the Baix Penedès region that overlooks the sea does so with eyes that reflect its maritime heritage. In Calafell the building that formerly housed the Confraternity of Fishermen is now the interpretation centre for the town's maritime past and part of its collective history. The town's seafront promenade still boasts one of the few architectural features of that time: the Casa Barral, a former fisherman's shop where the poet and publisher Carlos Barral once lived. It is now a museum in his memory. It is not, however, the only centre devoted to renowned personages in Baix Penedès' history, in El Vendrell there are more.
 
Without leaving Calafell, however, and delving further into the past, we encounter the Iberians. There is an Iberian fortress in the town that has been reconstructed enabling you to walk through its streets and enter the houses, which have been furnished with objects found in the settlement itself. The tour of bygone times continues at the castle of Santa Creu, a medieval fortification. The castle and its surrounding area are now an open-air archaeological park that brings Calafell's history to life.
 
The most famous sons of Vendrell, the capital of the district, are Pau Casals, Àngel Guimerà and Apel·les Fenosa. Here you can visit the house where Casals, whose interpretation of El cant dels ocells on the cello became world famous, was born. The house recreates the ambience of the Casals' family home at the time and you can see the instruments that would have influenced the beginning of his musical career. The route that bears his name provides more information about his life and work, in the same way as a literary route reveals the life and work of the dramatist and poet, Àngel Guimerà the author of Terra baixa, along with the museum tat bears his name in Vendrell town centre.
 
The Apel·les Fenosa Foundation has a collection of this artist's original terracotta and plaster sculptures, as well as a selection of monumental bronzes. They are on display in the house Fenosa bought for his summer residence, the Casa del Portal del Pardo. The Museu Deu, in an imposing former nobleman's home, has a wider-ranging collection of art, an example of a 20th-century Catalan collection consisting of items of all kinds.

An excursion proposed in collaboration with the magazine Descobrir.

 

CAPELLADES PREHISTORIC PARK

An extraordinary treasure has been found in L'Anoia: the remains of a skull belonging to a Neanderthal who lived more than 60,000 years ago. This ancestor of ours lived in Abric Romaní in Cape­llades, and it has taken more than 40 years of continuous archaeological excavations to come across the find. The discovery, made last August, is highly significant since it has elevated Abric Romaní to the podium of the world's most important archaeological sites for learning about the social and cultural behaviour of our ancestors. Abric Romaní is one of the sites forming part of the Capellades Prehistoric Park. It can be visited and is located amongst the curious geological features of the Capelló cliffs, where Capellades peers over the river Anoia.

MUSEU MOLÍ PAPERER
 
Without moving from Capella­des you can visit another of its iconic attractions, the Museu Molí Paperer (papermill museum), which shows the legacy of an important industry. During the 18th and 19th centuries the town was one of the most important paper-producing centres in the country and achieved international renown. The museum explains the history of paper from its origins, to modern-day production techniques. Hand-made paper continues to be made in the basement of the mill. In fact, amongst the educational activities available is one where visitors can make recycled paper, emphasising the need for recycling and sustainability.
 
The papermill in Capellades was not the only one in the area. The 'Paper Route' (Els Camins del Paper) consists of 5 routes that explain the legacy of an industrial landscape comprising the river Anoia, the streams, dams, weirs and papermills.

CLARAMUNT CASTLE
 
L’Anoia is also a land of castles. Many were built between the 10th and 11tgh centuries to protect the lands bordering those conquered by the Muslims. One of the Castles to acquire the most power was Claramunt castle, located in La Pobla de Claramunt, next to Capellades and towering over the Guàrdia mountain range, from where it protected the Conca d’Òdena.
 
It has the classic structure of 12th-century castles, having two walled precincts: an upper precinct containing the residential area, the Gothic hall and four towers, and the lower precinct that housed the castle services and which is today a large courtyard surrounded by walls. It's an ideal place to take the kids because the footpath leading there is full of surprises: La muntanya dels nens (or "kids' mountain") pulls you into the surroundings through games, experimentation, fun and action.
 

Towards the latter end of the 10th century, the Muslims who had lived in the Conca del Llobregat since the 9th century having left, the territory now known as L'Anoia was repopulated with Christians, and they built castles in the mountains. This explains why, today, there are some twenty fortresses, and if you look up you will, most likely, see hills crowned with walls and towers, like the castles of Boixadors, Manresana, Òdena and Calaf, amongst others.

A large part of this heritage was built between the mid-10th and mid-11th centuries on the orders of the counts of Barcelona, Osona-Manresa, and Berga-Cerdanya to protect the land from its former Muslim owners. Many of these castles are now open to the public and guided tours are organised which bring their former glory to life.

To sample a taste of this architectural heritage there are four important fortresses that provide guided tours, and they are very close to Igualada.

THE CASTLE OF CLARAMUNT

The castle of Claramunt, in La Pobla de Claramunt, dates from the 10th century and is located on the summit of the Serra de la Guàrdia. The visit takes you into the various places and rooms within the castle. The castle's structure has been conserved, as has its impressive and intimidating appearance.

THE CASTLE OF VILADEMÀGER

The castle of Vilademàger already existed in the 10th century. It is in Llacuna and is an imposing castle situated on a cliff top and is noted for its perimeter walls and towers. 

THE CASTLE OF TOUS

The castle of Tous, in Sant Martí de Tous, is in a particularly strategic location, dominating both the Òdena and Barberà basins. Now it is a large house with a crenelated tower that was heavily restored and extended in the 16th and 20th centuries.

THE CASTLE OF MONTBUI

The castle of Montbui, in Santa Margarida de Montbui, crowns the Tossa de Montbui mountain, where the church of Santa Maria is also located. It is one of the most interesting churches in our country, dating from the high middle ages.

On the way to these castles, if you lift your gaze, you will also see the castles of La Torre, Orpí, Jorba and Miralles. These castles may only be visited from the outside, but you can climb up to them on foot and round off the excursion with a country trail that will certainly reward you with some magnificent views.

One of the wine-growing areas par excellence of Catalonia is Penedès, with a long tradition in the production of wines and cavas.

On this route we can visit such emblematic places as the Codorniu cavas winery designed by Josep Puig i Cadafalch, which includes the residential area of the Raventós family and the industrial area, built with flat brick vaults and parabolic arches.

Penedès is an area with a proliferation of cava wineries, such as the Miró cava winery in Sant Sadurní d'Anoia - designed by Cèsar Martinell - or the liqueur and cava factory Mascaró in Vilafranca del Penedès. This large number of wineries dedicated to sparkling wine is due to a reconversion of the wine sector in the area following the phylloxera crisis.

Other cava wineries which can be visited include Hill in Moja; it is well worth taking a look at their underground galleries dug out in the rock itself ("tapassot"), in which natural walls and vaults are formed.

Without leaving Moja we can take a look at the winery of the Agricultural Union, designed by Cèsar Martinell in full Noucentista style, without any concession to Modernisme.
 
ARCHEOLOGY IN ITS PURE STATE
In Garraf we will find the Olèrdola Nature Reserve, which combines nature with some exceptional monumental buildings: you can see prehistoric archaeological remains as well as Iberian, Roman and medieval examples. Olèrdola is currently one of the headquarters of the Museum of Archaeology of Catalonia.
 
CASTLES AND POPULAR CULTURE
In addition Penedès is a land of castles - you can visit those of Gelida and Subirats - and it is also the home of "caramelles", songs and folk dances that are sung at Easter or "Pasqua Florida" in Vilafranca del Penedès and other Catalan towns.


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