Village
Olèrdola is a municipality of Alt Penedès, in Barcelona, with its capital at Sant Miquel d'Olèrdola, 54 km from the county capital, on the western slopes of the Garraf. The monumental complex on its hill, 358 m high and referred to as civitate Olerdula in a document from the year 979, was declared Bien Cultural de Interés Nacional in 1931 (Catalonia's highest level of heritage protection) and brings together remains of occupation from the Bronze Age, almost 4,000 years ago, up to the 20th century: Roman walls and a cistern, a medieval wine-making area, an Iberian house, the Romanesque church of Sant Miquel, a medieval castle and a Roman watchtower. Since 1995 it has been one of the seats of the Museu d'Arqueologia de Catalunya. The municipality comprises eight settlements and has 3,945 inhabitants.
Monument
A complex of two superimposed churches: one pre-Romanesque from 929-935, under count Sunyer I of Barcelona, and another Romanesque one consecrated in 991 and altered after the Almohad destruction of 1108, with a barrel vault replacing the wooden roof; it was a parish until 1884. Restored by Jeroni Martorell (1926-1928) and Camil Pallàs (from 1953). An Asset of National Cultural Interest (BCIN 165-MH).
Monument
A Romanesque chapel of circular plan -one of only two of this type in the comarca- already built in 1061 and the seat of a priory of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre documented in 1175; it retains Romanesque mural paintings discovered around 1954 beneath the plaster. A Monumento Histórico-Artístico (Spain's heritage designation in force between 1931 and 1985) since 1974 (BCIN 166-MH-EN).
Monument
The castle of Olèrdola is part of the archaeological and monumental complex occupying the mountain of Sant Miquel d'Olèrdola, in the comarca of Alt Penedès, declared a cultural asset of national interest and today belonging to the Museum of Archaeology of Catalonia. The settlement that gave rise to the complex sits on an inclined rocky platform in the southern foothills of the Garraf massif, formed of Cretaceous limestones and dolomites over calcareous rocks deposited during the Miocene in an ancient lake of the Penedès. The mountain, surrounded by cliffs on every side except the north-northeast, rises prominently above the surrounding territory, which explains why it was coveted and occupied by man from the earliest times as a place to control and defend the surrounding area.
Monument
The site of Moja, at about 233 metres above sea level and some 2.5 kilometres from Vilafranca del Penedès, is already documented in 981, in a purchase of land, and in 1010, when the alod of Moja was bequeathed by will to the monastery of Sant Cugat del Vallès. At the centre of the settlement stands an old circular defence tower, about fourteen metres high and five metres in interior diameter, with its entrance on the second floor -today turned into a window-, built with an arch of nine voussoirs and two interior levels topped with brick battlements. Raised in the 10th century, the present tower would date from the 12th, since a document of 1114 records the abbot of Sant Cugat commissioning its reconstruction. It is now incorporated into a dwelling in the settlement of Moja and declared a cultural asset of national interest.
Monument
Medieval fortification of Olèrdola situated atop a small hill, near the Barquera farmhouse, from which it takes its name. Its remains suggest that the complex had an irregular quadrangular plan of about 15 by 26 metres, with a circular tower, and the bases of some walls that must have formed various rooms can still be made out; it is built of roughly worked stone laid in a regular fashion. Its origins are not documented, although some authors identify it with the vanished castle of Fontallada, a stronghold that belonged to the family of that name. It was declared a Cultural Asset of National Interest in 1988.
Monument
Circular tower of the 11th century preserved up to about seven metres in height, with walls 1.40 metres thick and interior masonry in opus spicatum, next to a small annexed building that may have served as a prison or chapel, in the Viladellops sector, within the municipality of Olèrdola. The site is recorded from 976 within the territory of the castle of Olèrdola and passed in 992 to the monastery of Sant Pere de les Puelles; later it belonged to the Order of the Hospitallers, and in 1297 the commander of the commandery of Sant Valentí de les Cabanyes claimed its defence against other claimants, a lawsuit that dragged on until 1451, when Queen Maria ruled in favour of Hospitaller jurisdiction. It is declared a cultural asset of national interest.
Monument
The ruins of Olèrdola form an archaeological and historical complex in the municipality of the same name, in the Alt Penedès, with remains ranging from the Bronze Age, around 2000-1800 BC, to medieval times. Around the 2nd century BC the Romans built a military camp here to control the Via Hercúlia, with a fortified wall of quadrangular towers and a large cistern. In 929 Count Sunyer I built a castle and a church dedicated to Sant Miquel, later replaced by a Romanesque temple completed in 992. Outside the wall stands Santa Maria dels Albats, with anthropomorphic tombs known as olerdolanes, discovered here for the first time. The site, acquired by the Diputació de Barcelona in 1963, is today an archaeological park open to visitors.
Nature
A protected natural area of 608 hectares between the municipalities of Olèrdola (Alt Penedès) and Canyelles (Garraf), at the foot of the Garraf massif, managed by the Barcelona Provincial Council. Its highest point, the Talaia, reaches 358 metres. The Mediterranean vegetation combines pine forests, scrubland, dry meadows and vineyards adapted to summer drought and limestone soils; among the fauna are notable heat-loving reptiles such as the horseshoe whip snake and the slow worm, along with cave-dwelling species endemic to the karst system. The historical and archaeological site of Olèrdola, which gives the park its name, is its main attraction, and the area is crossed by variants of the GR 92-3 trail and the Ruta de l'Aigua i el Vi, which passes through Moja, Sant Miquel d'Olèrdola and Viladellops.
Curiosity
A natural cave with rock art, also known as the cova de les Pintures or the cova del Fondal de la Seguera, which was also used as a site for ceremonial burials. It is protected as a World Heritage site within the Rock Art of the Mediterranean Basin on the Iberian Peninsula. It lies on the southern slopes of the Massís del Garraf, in the Fondo de la Seguera stream ravine, three kilometres south of Vilafranca del Penedès, within the municipality of Olèrdola.
Historical milestone
In 1108 an Almoravid raid razed the fortified enclosure of Olèrdola, repopulated by the counts since the tenth century over an Iberian and Roman oppidum. The place was left marginal and the population moved to the plain, towards the new Vilafranca.