Logbook · 8 places

What to see and do in Calaf

What to see and do in Calaf (Anoia, Barcelona): 8 places across monuments, nature, activities and curiosities, with a photo and a Google Maps location.

1 Villages · 4 Monuments · 1 Activities · 2 Food and drink

When to go to Calaf: festival calendar

September: Calaf Main Festival (September 4-7)

How far each place is from the centre of Calaf

Towns near Calaf

Spain › Catalonia › Barcelona › Anoia › Calaf

What to see and do in Calaf

Calaf
Village
Calaf, at the northern edge of l'Anoia, in Barcelona, is the capital of the sub-comarca known as Alta Segarra, with 3,644 inhabitants (INE 2025). Its origin goes back to the resettlement of the frontier between the Christian counties and al-Andalus: the counts of Barcelona resettled the area with Berber tribes, from which the very toponym Calaf derives. After depopulation caused by Almanzor's raids in 976, between 1010 and 1015 the bishop of Vic received the territory and entrusted its resettlement to Guillén. In 1093, at the foot of the hill and the castle, the centre protected by a rammed-earth wall was born, and soon a market was held outside its walls, the origin of its commercial vocation. It still preserves today the arcaded Plaça Gran, a bien cultural de interés nacional (a heritage site of national interest).
Great Square of Calaf
Monument
18th-century arcaded square of irregular layout in Calaf, in the comarca of l'Anoia, built in various stages from the 17th to the 19th century. The houses that make it up are of well-worked stone, with a ground floor and two upper storeys, and their arcades do not follow a set rhythm but respond to the features of each building. It took shape from the market established in the 14th century by the viscounts of Cardona, documented since 1397 and famous as a hiring market for harvest labourers. It features the church of Sant Jaume, from the 16th century with a neo-medieval doorway from the late 19th century, and its bell tower, built between 1670 and 1889. It is declared a conjunto histórico de interés nacional (a historic ensemble under national-level heritage protection).
Castle of Calaf
Monument
The castle of Calaf crowns the upper part of the town, on a hill from which the village and the plain crossed by important communication routes could be overlooked; it is considered one of the most notable fortifications in the comarca. After the devastations of Almanzor, Count Ramón Borrell and Countess Ermesenda handed over the territory of la Segarra around 1010–1015 to the bishop of Vic to resettle it, and it remained under the feudal rule of the bishops of Vic and, from 1375, of the viscounts of Cardona. It is a polygonal fortification with five sides, about 28 metres wide, with walls up to 300 centimetres thick made of large squared ashlar blocks, preserved in stretches more than ten metres high. Reduced to ruin in 1781, it has been the subject of restoration work.
Gates, Wall and Tower of Calaf
Monument
Remains of the medieval walled enclosure of Calaf, with surviving gates and defensive towers. Remains of three of its gates still survive: the Xuriguera gate, the Hospital gate, and the one on Carrer de Sant Jaume. The walls were rebuilt around 1584, although the origin of the enclosure dates back to the 11th century, when the settlement developed around the castle, now in a semi-ruined state and declared a Bien Cultural de Interés Nacional (Catalonia's highest level of heritage protection).
Tower of la Ferrera
Monument
Fortified house and fortified farmhouse known as Ferrera, with 14th-century Gothic elements, located on the Turó de Ferrera, in the southwest of the municipal area of Calaf (Anoia), at 759 metres above sea level. Its origins date back to 1015, when Bishop Borrell of Vic commissioned the resettlement of the territory of Calaf with three fortified puigs, this being one of them; it later passed to the viscomital house of Cardona and remained a fortified site until the late 15th century, when it became a farmhouse inhabited by the Sala family. It preserves battered buttresses and arrow slits, now converted into small windows, as well as remains of the walls of the defensive enclosure. It is declared a Bien Cultural de Interés Nacional (Catalonia's highest level of heritage protection), although after decades of neglect it is in poor condition.
Calaf Main Festival
Activity
The Festa Major de Calaf is held on the first weekend of September, coinciding with the Fira de setembre of the Calaf market. It brings together four days of music and activities in the town, centred on the Plaça Gran.
Botifarra of Calaf
Food and drink
Fresh sausage made with the prime parts of the pig and belly fat, seasoned only with salt and pepper. It is the best known meat product of the plateau and is found in the butchers' shops and in the weekly market of the villa.
Eggs of Calaf
Food and drink
The eggs of Calaf are famous throughout Catalonia for the intensity of the yolk; one and the same family has produced them in the municipality since the middle of the twentieth century. They are sold in the market of the villa and are the basis of omelettes and country dishes.