Village
Moià is the capital of the Moianès comarca, in the province of Barcelona, with 6,828 inhabitants (INE 2025). The village first appears documented in 912 and 914, and its parish church, from the year 939, preserves the act of consecration confirming a small population centre already in the time of Wifred the Hairy; in 1151 count Ramon Berenguer IV established a fair and market there. It is the birthplace of Rafael Casanova, whose house is today a museum, and also of the tenor Francesc Viñas, in whose memory a music festival is held every summer. In its municipal area are the Toll caves, with prehistoric sites. Capital of the Moianès, birthplace of Rafael Casanova, home of the prehistoric Toll caves, it celebrates its main festival on 15 August.
Monument
Museum housed in a Gothic-Baroque building in Moià (Moianès), the birthplace of Rafael Casanova, which shares its premises with the Museu Casa Natal Rafael Casanova. Its collections come mainly from the Toll caves, a complex of four caverns and a chasm formed during the Pliocene and Quaternary periods, and to a lesser extent from other sites in the comarca; the museum also manages the Prehistoric Park of the Coves del Toll. The exhibition is organised into thematic areas — the cave's geographical setting, its geological formation, Quaternary fauna and human presence — and among its pieces stand out remains of Quaternary fauna, such as the bones of lions, rhinoceroses and hippopotamuses, together with evidence of human occupation since the Middle Palaeolithic.
Monument
The castle of Clarà, of Romanesque origin, stands in ruins a kilometre from the village of Moià towards Manresa, on Sant Andreu mountain, at 800 metres above sea level; it was a border castle whose territory coincided with that of the town itself. It is documented since 912 and 915, and appears in the dowry received in 993 by Ermesenda of Carcassonne, wife of count Ramon Borrell. The Gallifa were castellans first, followed by the Rocafort. The fortress was abandoned after the orders to demolish Catalan castles issued by Philip V as reprisal following the War of the Spanish Succession, and over time its stones were used to rebuild nearby farmhouses. Today a circular keep about five metres high and 6.8 metres in outer diameter survives, next to a cistern.
Monument
Building in Moià declared a cultural asset of national interest, located south of the town, to the right of the Castellnou stream, near the C-59 road. Documented since the 12th century as the fortified house of Molins, in 1381 it became a boundary castle by privilege of Peter the Ceremonious in favour of Pere de Planella, from which it took the name Castell Nou, as opposed to the abandoned castle of Clarà; the people of Moià rebelled against this rule and in 1384 achieved a return to the royal crown. In 1638, owing to financial problems and to the poor relations of the Planella family with the people of Moià, the castle was sold to Josep Barrera i Rovira, a merchant of Moià, whose descendants married in 1744 into the marquesses of Puerto Nuevo, a title that its owners still hold today.
Monument
El Saiol Comtal, also known as Torre dels Capellans, is a farmhouse with a tower in the municipality of Moià (Moianès, Barcelona), declared a cultural asset of national interest on 8 November 1988. It dates from the 16th century and combines a central tower with another, lower one to the south, with stone walls and access through a round arch. Local tradition holds it to have been a former resting palace of the counts of Barcelona, whence its name Saiol Comtal; in 1819 it was acquired by the community of priests of Moià, the capellans who give the tower its name. Today it operates as a children's summer camp house.
Monument
The coat of arms and Baroque ornamentation of carrer del Pont in Moià (Moianès, Barcelona) date from between 1670 and 1730, probably around 1730, coinciding with the works to build the church. The coat of arms is held up by two long-haired figures and crowned by the face of an angel beneath the crown; next to one of the coats of arms is a stone with floral decoration carved in high relief. The ensemble is declared a Cultural Asset of National Interest (BCIN 3984-MH, IPAC 16701).
Monument
The Font Vella is a popular fountain in Moià (Moianès, Barcelona), included in the Inventory of Architectural Heritage of Catalonia. It stands against a wall of large blocks of dressed stone, with the coat of arms of Moià carved in stone attached to the wall; today the water comes out through a tap and remains of the old troughs are still preserved. It was built in 1634 at the top of the old carrer de la Cendra, today carrer Francesc Viñas, and rebuilt in 1709 at the town's expense, as recorded in an inscription on the fountain itself. The surplus water was used by the cloth finishers for dyeing, until it became insufficient: between 1868 and 1870 water was brought from the Passarell area, and in 1931 from la Crespiera.
Monument
Farmhouse with a defensive tower located at the eastern end of the municipal territory of Moià (Moianès, Barcelona), next to the N-141c road, at kilometre 30.5. Rectangular in plan and with a gabled roof, it has a square tower and stone walls overlooking the front courtyard; the doorway of the tower bears the date 1575 and that of the main house, 1812. The Casanova family already owned the estate in the 13th century, documented then with Andreu Casanova, and acquired it again in 1461; between the 17th and 18th centuries other buildings were added. Around 1650 the family moved to the centre of Moià, where they built Can Casanova, and there the historic Rafael Casanova was born. It is declared a cultural asset of national interest.
Monument
The castle of Rodors was a Romanesque fortification on a hill northwest of the municipality of Moià, next to the Malrubí stream and near the farmhouse of Casamitjana. Documented as castro Rossedores in 10th-century parchments, earlier than Almanzor's capture of Barcelona, it later passed under royal domain. In 1105 it belonged to the Montcada, held in fief by the Talamanca; in the 14th century it passed to the viscounts of Castellbò and, from 1381, to the Planelles, who kept it until the 17th century. The territory of Rodors was incorporated into Moià in 1845, and the building survived as a farmhouse until around 1960, when it was sold and its stones used in new buildings. It had already been razed following the decree for the destruction of Catalan fortifications issued by Philip V; today only the platform on which it stood can be recognised.
Monument
The Remei cross is a late Gothic boundary cross, declared Bien Cultural de Interés Nacional (Catalonia's highest level of heritage protection), preserved next to the Remei chapel of Moià. It has straight arms ending in expansions reminiscent of the fleur-de-lis, with the interior pierced in a tetralobe pattern, and the profile lined with a vegetal frieze; the obverse shows the crucified Christ and the reverse the Virgin with the Child standing on a winged head, resting on a quadrangular block joined to a polygonal pilaster. It stood from 1578 in front of the old chapel of the Mare de Déu del Remei, belonging to the mas Saiol and today the cemetery chapel; between 1974 and 1977 it was removed to protect it from vandalism and replaced by an iron cross. Restored in 2003, it is preserved protected by a wrought-iron railing.
Nature
The Altiplà del Moianès, the elevated plain that gives the comarca its name and extends between the Bages, the Vallès Oriental and Osona, covers an area of 337.9 km². Its altitude ranges between 600 and 900 metres toward the west, with peaks of 1,057 metres at Puig Rodó and 1,061 at Puig de l'Oller toward the east. It sits on Eocene marls and, to a lesser extent, Eocene and Oligocene sandstones and limestones, and its river network is organised around the riera de Calders. The climate is sub-humid continental Mediterranean, with annual rainfall of 600 to 700 mm and an average temperature of about 12°C.
Activity
The Summer Festa Major of Moià is concentrated around 15 August, with popular culture, music, circus, fire performances and traditional dances; the municipality has a second festa major, the winter one, dedicated to Sant Sebastià.
Nature
The Coves del Toll form a complex of four caves and an avenc (vertical pothole) that originated during the Pliocene, already within the Quaternary, in the municipal territory of Moià. Excavations there have yielded remains of Quaternary fauna — lions, rhinoceroses, hippopotamuses, among others — and evidence of human presence since the Middle Palaeolithic. The site gave rise to the Museu Arqueològic i Paleontològic-Coves del Toll de Moià, which preserves these collections and also manages the Parc Prehistòric de les Coves del Toll, where the cave's geological formation and the prehistory of the Moianès can be studied from the remains found there.
Nature
The Cova de les Teixoneres (or Toixoneres) is part, together with the Cova del Toll, of the Coves del Toll complex in Moià (Moianès, Barcelona), reached on foot by a signposted path about a hundred metres from the reception centre. The complex has yielded remains of Quaternary fauna, Mousterian tools and Neanderthal evidence, as well as later material from the Epipalaeolithic and the Bronze Age, and it has been declared bien cultural de interés local (a local-level heritage protection listing) since 1988.
Curiosity
Recreation of a Neolithic settlement with replica huts, linked to the excavations at the caves of el Toll.
Nature
One of the best-formed beech woods in the Moianès, a beech forest far from its main area of distribution.
Nature
Beech wood of high ecological value in the municipal district of Moià.
Activity
Traditional cereal fair of Moià, capital of the Moianès.
Activity
The Fira de Sant Isidre is held in Moià, a town that already obtained a market and fair in 1151 and which in 1384 received the privilege of carrer de Barcelona, putting it on equal footing with the capital in terms of privileges.
Activity
The Festa Major d'Hivern de Moià is held in the birthplace of Rafael Casanova, born in 1660, a lawyer and conseller en cap during the 1714 siege of Barcelona, who survived his wounds until 1743.
Activity
The weekly market of Moià is held in the capital of the Moianès, a town that on 8 and 9 September 1839, in the midst of the First Carlist War, suffered a fire that destroyed close to a hundred and fifty houses.
Activity
The Festa de la Castanyada de Moià is listed in the Registre del Patrimoni Festiu of the Generalitat de Catalunya, with traditional activities of roasting chestnuts and sweet potatoes, theatrical performances on the day's beliefs, and the handing out of autumn fruits among those attending.
Monument
Territorial project showcasing the cultural, natural and pre-industrial heritage of the ten municipalities of the Moianès.
Historical milestone
After a referendum with more than eighty per cent of votes in favour, the Parliament approved in April 2015 the creation of the Moianès. The comarca was born on 1 May with ten municipalities segregated from the Bages, Osona and the Vallès Oriental.
Historical milestone
In 1384 the villa obtained the privilege of carrer de Barcelona, which put it on an equal footing with the capital in franchises. Earlier it had obtained a market and fair in 1151 and the condition of royal villa free of castle lords.
Historical milestone
Born in Moià in 1660 into a family of well-off peasants, he became a lawyer in Barcelona and was conseller en cap during the siege of 1714. Wounded on 11 September, he survived until 1743 in retirement in the Baix Llobregat.
Historical milestone
On 8 and 9 September 1839, in the middle of the First Carlist War, the villa was burned and lost close to one hundred and fifty houses. The blow was added to the ravages of the war against the French of 1810.
Food and drink
Winter dish made with boiled and mashed potato and cabbage, sautéed with bacon, ham or black butifarra. Related to the trinxat of the Pyrenees, it is considered the recipe most characteristic of the comarca and is served very hot.