Penedès

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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The Romanesque monastery of Sant Sebastià dels Gorgs in Avinyonet del Penedès is the starting point for this excursion to the Alt Penedès. It is a good place to start because it presides over a small town that is surrounded by vines as far as the eye can see, a prelude to the landscape throughout the excursion. Sant Sebastià dels Gorgs, which dates from the 11th century, is the district’s most iconic medieval building. It has a very interesting Romanesque bell tower and the northern wing of the cloister, with beautifully carved capitals, has survived.

VILAFRANCA DEL PENEDÈS AND PACS DEL PENEDÈS

The route continues to Vilafranca del Penedès where you can visit the Vinseum and find out more about wine culture thanks to their collection of 17,000 pieces of archaeological and ethnological items, art and ceramics. A wine event awaits you at the Família Torres wine cellar in Pacs del Penedès, which offers a number of visits and you can taste the wines and choose the ones you like.

OLÈRDOLA

The visit continues to Olèrdola with its ensemble of fascinating features where you can trace the tracks of humanity from the bronze age until well into the 20th century. This site is Museu d’Arqueologia de Catalunya (MAC) site and it forms part of the Iberian Route. It occupies a privileged position that commands impressive views over the Penedès district. There are the remains of a walled Iberian settlement, those of a Roman fortification and a medieval town with pre-Romanesque and Romanesque churches.

SANTA MARGARIDA I ELS MONJOS

The excursion ends in Santa Margarida i els Monjos with a visit to the Republican Aviation and Aerial Warfare Interpretation Centre (CIARGA). It is devoted to aspects of aviation during the Spanish Civil War. It is highly educational and combines original pieces in their setting alongside powerful multimedia resources.

The roar of water, the smells, the noise made by horses and carts, and the sounds of workers coming and going, that was the backdrop to be heard continuously from the end of the 18th century along the water canal in Igualada when the new tanneries were being built.

Pay a visit to the town's industrial past, associated with the production of hides and wool, with a visit to the Igualada and Anoia district's Museu de la Pell (hide museum). Established in 1954, it is one of the first museums devoted entirely to tanning in Europe. The museum is spread over two buildings: Cal Boyer, its main premises, and Cal Granotes.
 
CAL BOYER

Cal Boyer is a former textile factory and is where the museum now has its main facilities. Here you will see many items made from leather as well as the tools and machines used for treating hides in Igualada. Be sure not to miss the 'People and Water' section, which gives a overview of the qualities of water and its uses. There is also an experimental water canal that shows the ways in which water can be harnessed to produce energy for industrial purposes.
 
CAL GRANOTES

Cal Granotes is a 17th-century tannery right in the heart of the Rec district and here you can witness all the crafts associated with the treatment of hides. It still has the two floors that characterise pre-industrial tanneries. The first, the lower floor, where all the procedures were carried out to prepare and treat the skins, and the second, where the hides were hung to dry from bars.
 
THE TANNING DISTRICT OF THE REC

After visiting the museum, why not take a tour around the tanning district of the Rec with its water canal? The tannery facade still has its characteristic buttresses, and the its stepping stones, tanks, sinks and sluices can still be seen.


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The mountain of Olèrdola, between the Penedès plain and Garraf, has been a strategic site settled by humans from the Bronze Age until well into the 20th century. At the present time Olèrdola is one of the sites of the Museu d’Arqueologia de Catalunya, and forms part of the Iberian Route. The group of historic remains and buildings here, as well as the surroundings area with, for example, the church of Sant Miquel d’Olèrdola, is well worth the walk.
 
THE HISTORIC REMAINS AND BUILDINGS
 
Since pre-historic times the people who settled here have left their mark: an Iberian settlement; an impressive Roman fort; a medieval town; pre-Romanesque and Romanesque churches; and medieval tombs carved into the rock. Start your visit to the sites at the church of Sant Miquel and continue around the side of the cistern, the anthropomorphic tombs, and finally, the Iberian settlement.
 
THE TRAIL ON FOOT
 
After your visit you could follow the foot trail around the Parc d’Olèrdola suggested by Barcelona Provincial Council's Natural Parks network. It will lead you to the centre of Sant Miquel d’Olèrdola. The path, signposted to La Font de l’Alba, starts at the entrance to the site and in five minutes you will be at the Pla dels Albats, where there is an interesting medieval necropolis with tombs carved into the rock. Along the way, surrounded by a landscape with a typicaly Mediterranean character, you will come across a number of springs.
 
THE VILLAGE OF SANT MIQUEL D’OLÈRDOLA
 
The trail ends in the village of Sant Miquel d’Olèrdola. You can visit the church of the same name, built between 1885 and 1889. If you've worked up an appetite and fancy sampling the local cuisine have a look at the restaurants in the area.
 
For more information about this and other suggestions, check out the information provided by Olèrdola Town Council.
 
 
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Xarxa de Parcs Naturals de la Diputació de Barcelona

This Sacred Catalonia trail will take you to the mountainous hinterland of the diocese of Girona with its combination of large parishes, urban convents and extensive valleys with their little villages and disperse habitats.
 
MONASTERY OF SANT ESTEVE DE BANYOLES
 
The route starts at the Benedictine monastery of Sant Esteve de Banyoles which, founded in the 9th century, acquired great importance in the area, with other monasteries, such as that of Sant Pere de Rodes, becoming dependent on it. It still conserves authentic works of art.
 
SANTA MARIA DE PORQUERES
 
A ten-minute drive will take you to the church of Santa Maria de Porqueres, a fine example of Romanesque architecture. It is a very sober building but displays decorative sculptural motifs of great interest.

MONASTERY OF SANT PERE
 
Once in Besalú visit the Romanesque church of Sant Pere de Besalú, consecrated 1003. It is all that is left of a former monastery that achieved great importance in the 12th and 13th centuries.

SANT VICENÇ DE BESALÚ

Located in the historic centre of Besalú, the church of Sant Vicenç is one of the town's oldest and most important religious buildings. It contains a fragment of the True Cross.
 
SANT SEPULCRE DE PALERA
 
Another ten-minute drive will lead you to the route's last location: Sant Sepulcre de Palera, one of the finest examples of the Romanesque in the county of Besalú, and a major centre of pilgrimage during the 11th and 12th centuries.


The Sacred Catalonia trail is intended for groups and takes 6 hours. For more information please ring 693 720 202 or send an email to: reserves@cataloniasacra.cat.


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Pau Casals was born in El Vendrell in 1876. After the age of 23 he travelled around the world playing his music in the best auditoria, but he never forgot his home town. “Fortunately, during my journeys to so many foreign countries, I have never left the child from Vendrell behind", he said. Would you like to follow in his footsteps around this town?
 
PAU CASALS MUSEUM
 
The Pau Casals Museum, opened in 2001 after a refurbishment, is his former summer residence. It looks out over the sea and the Sant Salvador beach. The museum holds a wealth of artistic and documentary material that shows why he had such universal appeal. Pau Casals lived here until 1939, when he had to go into exile, never to return.
 
A ROUTE ON FOOT, OR BY BICYCLE
 
After visiting the museum you could go for a walk along the Sant Salvador beach before heading off towards the old town centre of Vendrell, following the signposts. (A little over an hour on foot, 20 minutes by bicycle or 10 minutes by car.)
 
THE OLD CENTRE OF VENDRELL
 
In the old centre of the town you can visit the house where Pau Casals was born and discover more about the life of the Casals family. Also in the centre is Vendrell church, where Pau Casals started playing the Barroque organ at the age of 9.
 
FAMILY WINE CELLARS
 
The following day you could visit the vineyards in the area, where there are a number of family wine cellars, to taste some of the Penedès DO wines and enjoy the surrounding countryside.
 
 
For more information: The Genius Trail
 
 
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From Fat Thursday to Ash Wednesday anything goes! Merrymaking and debauchery are the order of the day during Carnival, a festival in which fancy dress and popular culture come to the fore. Have you ever taken part in one of Catalonia's most iconic Carnival festivals? We would like to mention some of them, where you could enjoy some of these celebrations.

TORELLÓ

Known as the Carnaval de Terra Endins, or inland Carnival, The Torelló Carnival attracts some 60,000 people every year. When king Rei Carnestoltes attacks the council and takes power, the mayor and the town councillors are stripped of their powers and the great party starts. One of the days most looked forward to is the Friday with its Senyoretes i Homenots ritual in which the men dress up as women and women dress up as men.
 
SITGES

The Carnival in Sitges is considered to be one of the best Carnivals on the Iberian Peninsula. The strong points of this great pit i cuixa i lluentons, or 'breast, thigh and sequins' festival are the 'rues', or parades: the one held on Sunday is known as the Rua de la Disbauxa, or Debauchery Parade, and the one held on Tuesday is known as the Rua de l’Extermini, or Extermination Parade. All the parades of floats are launched by king Carnestoltes and ended by the Queen of the Carnival, who is elected from all those who propose themselves for the crown by means of public acclamation.
 
SOLSONA

Another of the most outstanding Carnivals in Catalonia is the one held in Solsona, re-established in 1971. Here the popular disguises are replaced with robes and gowns of many colours and by the 'mad giants'. One of the most anticipated movements is on the Saturday night when the local inhabitants, who have been referred to as 'donkey killers' for many years on account of a legend, hang a cardboard donkey to the sound of the song, A Solsona bona gent (the Solsonese are good people).
 
VILANOVA I LA GELTRÚ

The Merengada (meringue fight), the Arrivo (arrival of king Carnival), the Ball de Mantons (shawls dance), the Comparses (huge collective dance), the Xatonada (traditional Vilanova i la Geltrú dish consisting of salt cod, tuna salad and Romesco sauce dressing), King Caramel (children's sweets king)... The Carnival in Vilanova i la Geltrú includes many events and everybody is invited to take part in them. The big, and much-anticipated event, known as the Comparses, is held on the Sunday. It is when thousands of couples with Manila shawls, barretina hats and carrying bags full of goodies, cover the streets of the town with sweets. In 2010 this satirical festival was declared Heritage Festival of National Interest by the Generalitat de Catalunya (Government of Catalonia).

 
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