Village
Santa Maria d'Oló is a municipality of the Moianès comarca, in the province of Barcelona, with 1,099 inhabitants (INE 2025), made up, besides the capital, of the settlements of la Frau, Pla de Gassetes, Raval de Santa Eulàlia, Raval de la Rovirola, Sant Feliuet de Terrassola, Sant Joan d'Oló and Sant Vicenç de Vilarrasan. The castle of Oló passed in 1369 under the dependence of the monastery of l'Estany; on 15 August 1395 the men of Oló stormed and burned the monastery in a lawsuit over the redemption of the lordship. Of the castle of Oló, part of a tower and walls with herringbone masonry survive; that of Aguiló acted as a subsidiary castle to the first.
Monument
Oló castle is a medieval fortification located at the top of the old village of Santa Maria d'Oló (Moianès, Barcelona), at the southern end of where the town extends today. It was responsible for the defence of the whole territory of Santa Maria d'Oló and that of Estany. The name Oló has been documented since the year 889 and the castle is explicitly mentioned in 931; its lordship was comital, exercised first by viscounts' deputies and later by the Oló family, descended from the viscounts of Girona. After passing to the Montcada family, it was sold in 1364 to the monastery of Santa Maria de l'Estany, which provoked a popular revolt and years of litigation and sieges until the monks conquered it. It later belonged to the Five Royal Dignities, until it was reincorporated into the Crown in 1606. The castle was enlarged in the 18th century.
Monument
Remains of the medieval castle of Aguiló, in the municipal territory of Santa Maria d'Oló (Moianès). It was a subsidiary castle of the nearby Castell d'Oló, under the lordship of the Count of Barcelona, acting as its forward guard. It was the centre of the old veïnat de la Frau, one of the municipality's scattered population settlements.
Monument
The Torre de Santa Maria d'Oló is what remains of Oló castle, documented since the year 889 and located at the top of the old core of the village, in the Moianès, at an altitude of about 538 metres. It was built between the 11th and 18th centuries; the tower retains Romanesque features, with the lower window as its oldest element, and shows ashlar blocks laid in regular courses and a section in opus spicatum. It belonged first to the Oló family, descended from the viscounts of Girona, and later passed to the house of Montcada (1333) and to the monastery of Santa Maria de l'Estany (1364), before reverting to the Crown in 1606. Of the fortification only a circular tower survives, today integrated into a house, 2.25 metres wide and about 8 metres high.
Activity
The Festa Major de Sant Joan d'Oló, the main settlement of the municipality of Santa Maria d'Oló, is celebrated on the first weekend of August, with a simple program of community activities, popular meals, and music.
Monument
The baroque altarpieces of Sant Joan d'Oló are kept in what was once the old parish church of Santa Maria d'Oló, sited at the highest point of the village until the present, more central church was built. The building, documented since the year 999 and a parish since 1083, was rebuilt around 1646 on the same site as the earlier churches and remained a parish church until 1963. Inside it preserves three altarpieces: the one on the high altar, made in 1663 over an earlier one from 1640, and a third, from 1772, on the right-hand side next to the presbytery. The ensemble was restored in the early 1990s.
Monument
A group of modernista buildings in Santa Maria d'Oló, in the Moianès, with works linked to the architects Josep Puig i Cadafalch, Eduard Balcells and Ignasi Mas Morell. Among them stands out the Fàbrica de la Sauleda, a textile industrial colony next to the village, designed by Ignasi Mas i Morell from 1896 and extended until the mid-20th century, with the red brick, blue ceramics and wrought iron typical of Catalan modernisme. Known at first as the fàbrica del Pastor and devoted to canvas-making, it was bought in 1963 by the Sauleda family, who reopened it and by 1989 had made it Spain's second-largest company in the sector. It is listed in the Inventari del Patrimoni Arquitectònic de Catalunya (Catalonia's inventory of architectural heritage).
Activity
The Festa Major d'Hivern de Santa Maria d'Oló is held in a municipality whose castle and lands passed in 1369 to the monastery of l'Estany; on 15 August 1395 the local households stormed and burned the monastery in a dispute over the redemption of the lordship that dragged on until 1606. It also preserves Modernista buildings linked to Puig i Cadafalch.
Historical milestone
The castle and the district of Oló had passed in 1369 into the hands of the monastery of l'Estany. On 15 August 1395 the residents assaulted and burned the monastery, in a lawsuit over the redemption of the seigneury that lasted until 1606.
Food and drink
The pig slaughter left in the comarca a repertoire of cured meats aged in the cold air of the plateau: longaniza, fuet and black butifarra. They are sold in the butchers' shops of the village and at the winter fairs.