Logbook · 5 places

What to see and do in Esparreguera

What to see and do in Esparreguera (Baix Llobregat, Barcelona): 5 places across monuments, nature, activities and curiosities, with a photo and a Google Maps location.

1 Villages · 2 Monuments · 1 Activities · 1 Historical milestones

When to go to Esparreguera: festival calendar

July: Esparreguera Main Festival (July 9-13)

How far each place is from the centre of Esparreguera

Castle of Esparreguera 50 m
Castle of les Espases 4.7 km

Towns near Esparreguera

What to see in Olesa de Montserrat 2.2 km · 3 places
What to see in Abrera 3.7 km · 3 places
What to see in Sant Esteve Sesrovires 4.8 km · 2 places
What to see in Collbató 4.9 km · 3 places
What to see in Masquefa 6 km · 4 places
What to see in Viladecavalls 7.5 km · 2 places
What to see in Ullastrell 7.6 km · 2 places
What to see in els Hostalets de Pierola 8.1 km · 3 places

Spain › Catalonia › Barcelona › Baix Llobregat › Esparreguera

What to see and do in Esparreguera

Esparreguera
Village
Esparreguera is a thousand-year-old town at the foot of Montserrat, on the right bank of the Llobregat, with 22,665 inhabitants. Its name derives from the Latin Asparragus, after asparagus, and passed through Ašbaragirra in Muslim times and Sparagaria, the oldest documented place name. Founded in 985, it is mentioned when Count Borrell II, fleeing Barcelona before Almanzor, recruited men-at-arms among whom was the knight Guillem de Esparraguera; having recovered the lands as far as Lérida, Borrell distributed them among the barons and charged them with building castles, the origin of those of Esparreguera and of les Espases that the town preserves. The municipal territory borders to the north-west on the Montserrat natural park and the sierra de Rubió.
Castle of Esparreguera
Monument
A 10th-century structure situated on the access path to Santa Maria del Puig, on the right bank of the Llobregat, at the mouth of the Cairat gorge, in Esparreguera. Recorded since 899 in a donation of vineyards to the monastery of Santa Cecília de Montserrat and built around 985 by Berenguer d'Esparreguera after the reconquest by Count Borrell II, it dominated the Llobregat river and the road to Monistrol. It passed through the Guàrdia, Cardona, Sitjar, Sacosta and Tous lineages until it was acquired in 1351 by the prior of Montserrat. Today very ruined and covered in vegetation, it preserves an early Romanesque ashlar wall about 4 m long and 0.9 m thick, similar to that of the castle of Eramprunyà, partly destroyed by 20th-century building works. It has been a Bien Cultural de Interés Nacional (Catalonia's highest level of heritage protection) since 1988.
Castle of les Espases
Monument
A castle on a rocky ridge running across the Llobregat, in the Cairat gorge, in Esparreguera; Count Borrell sold it to his loyal follower Guillem, of the Gurb-Queralt lineage, at an imprecise date between 966 and 985, and in September of that year Guillem donated it, together with that of Esparreguera, to the see of Vic, whose lords kept it until it passed to the Cardona family at the end of the 12th century. Today only part of a half-tower or bestorre survives, probably from the 10th century, along with a wall that follows the contour of the rock. Beside it stands the chapel of Sant Salvador de les Espases, the castle's former chapel, documented since the 14th century although with a 12th-century Romanesque wall and a 16th-century renovation; its roof suffered a partial collapse on 27 May 2024. Bien Cultural de Interés Nacional (BCIN 823-MH, Catalonia's highest level of heritage protection).
Esparreguera Main Festival
Activity
The Festa Major of Esparreguera is celebrated around the second weekend of July (9 to 13 in 2026), with giants, castellers and sardanas; the municipality also has a winter festa major dedicated to Sant Antoni Abat, at the end of January.
The industrial colony of the Llobregat in Esparreguera
Historical milestone
The textile factory beside the river started up in 1846 taking advantage of a channel of its own and grew until it formed a colony with dwellings, church and school. At the end of the nineteenth century it passed to the Sedó family, who gave it the name by which it is known.