Village
Vinaixa is a municipality of les Garrigues, in the province of Lleida, with 437 inhabitants (INE 2025), located in the upper part of the comarca, on the border with the Conca de Barberà. The stone urban centre is arranged around the old castle of Vinaixa or Cal Tarragó, a former 8th-century Arab alcázar on which the settlement of Beni-Aixa was established, the origin of the current place name. After the Christian repopulation, Ramon Berenguer IV granted a charter of settlement in the 12th century, and in the 13th century the lordship passed to the monastery of Poblet. It preserves the church of Sant Joan Baptista, the tower of Vinaixa and several noble houses, and for a long time lived off the stone industry.
Monument
The church of Sant Joan Baptista de Vinaixa, built between 1301 and 1318, is a singular example of Catalan religious architecture in transition between Romanesque and Gothic, with Cistercian influences that show the survival of 13th-century forms into the early decades of the 14th. It stands to the east of the village, on a conglomerate rock knoll; originally it was reached by a flight of steps, today replaced by a side square, beneath which an air-raid shelter is preserved. With a single nave and side chapels, its doorway preserves three archivolts decorated with diamond points. Included in the Inventari del Patrimoni Arquitectònic de Catalunya, it was declared an Asset of National Cultural Interest in April 2017.
Monument
Castle documented since 1198, when Berenguer de Puigverd ceded it to the monastery of Poblet, which in 1210 obtained full lordship of the town; today only a partial gate and a semicircular tower attached to the parish church survive.
Monument
A former 8th-century Arab alcázar with the honours of a castle, documented since 1151; only the staircase and the façade of the old manorial palace survive, which had its own olive-oil mill on the ground floor. The building, with Gothic and Renaissance elements, forms part of the complex of the castle and walled precinct of Vinaixa and is declared an asset of national cultural interest; its façade, of large, well-squared ashlars, preserves three round-arched, voussoired entrances, the largest bearing a coat of arms with two towers on the keystone. It may have formed part of the abbey of Poblet, on whose manorial jurisdiction the settlement depended, although the coat of arms corresponds to the Tarragó family, former owners (Cal Tarragó). It was remodelled as a dwelling between 1912 and 1918, and during the Civil War it served as a military headquarters.
Monument
The Casa de Poblet, in the historic centre of Vinaixa (Garrigues), was for centuries the place where the abbots of the monastery of Poblet collected the tithes due to them, and served as a modest residence for the monks who stayed there. Built between 1316 and 1348 by abbot Copons, with alterations up to the 16th century and Renaissance additions, the building is arranged over a ground floor, two upper floors and an attic, and is entered through a large round arch with well-squared voussoirs bearing at the keystone an engraved chalice, the heraldic emblem of abbot Copons of Poblet. Inside, three Gothic arcades signed by the stonemason who carved them are preserved. Declared an asset of national cultural interest, it was restored and rehabilitated to return it to the condition it had in the 19th century.
Activity
The festa major of Vinaixa, in Garrigues (Lleida), is celebrated on the last weekend of August in honour of Sant Joan Baptista. The programme of activities is designed for all ages.
Nature
A mountain range located to the west of the comarca of Les Garrigues, between Vinaixa and la Pobla de Cérvoles, although it also extends into the municipalities of Vilanova de Prades, in Conca de Barberà, and Ulldemolins, in Priorat. It is part of the Catalan Pre-Coastal Range and lies within the protected area of the Muntanyes de Prades. It comprises nine main peaks, with heights between 891 and 1,021 metres; the highest is the Punta del Curull, at 1,021.2 metres, followed by the Penya Alta and the Punta del General.
Historical milestone
The settlement of Vinaixa was born around a fortified Andalusi site and in 1151 Ramon Berenguer IV granted a settlement charter to colonists come from Tàrrega. The place name comes from Arabic and means son of Aixa.
Historical milestone
In the thirteenth century the monastery of Poblet obtained full jurisdiction over Vinaixa. To collect the tithe it raised the Casa de Poblet, an administrative building constructed under the abbacy of Copons, between 1316 and 1348.
Activity
Event of the last weekend of March that brings together the two products of Vinaixa: extra virgin olive oil and the sandstone of its quarries. It includes the sale of new oil, demonstrations of stonecutting and of dry stone building.