Village
El Montmell is a mountain municipality in the Baix Penedès, in Tarragona, with 1,958 inhabitants (INE 2025), made up of eight settlements, among them La Joncosa de Montmell, Aiguaviva and the abandoned Marmellar. Its name comes from the Latin monte macellum, 'arid mountain'. The area was under Saracen rule until the mid-10th century, and a document from 974 already mentions the castle of Montmell; resettlement was not effective until the late 11th century, as it was a frontier territory. Marmellar, documented since 1023, arose under the protection of its castle and was abandoned in 1976 after a fire. Of the castle of Montmell only small ruins of its tower remain. A mountain municipality home to the abandoned village of Marmellar and several castells termenats, it lives mainly on dry farming.
Monument
The castle of Marmellar gave rise to the abandoned village of the same name, in the municipality of el Montmell, at 532 metres above sea level. The first documentary reference dates from 1023, in a sale by the counts of Barcelona to Guillem Amat de Castellvell in which the district and the castle are mentioned. The village, which drew its water from the Marmellar stream, now dry, came to have 65 inhabitants in 1717 and only 26 in 1970; in 1976 a fire ravaged the area, and shortly afterwards it was definitively abandoned. In 1993 the discovery of a young woman's body in the area fed various urban legends about the place.
Monument
Castle of Sant Miquel del Montmell, in the municipality of el Montmell (Baix Penedès, Tarragona), about 780 metres above sea level. It dates from medieval times, with consolidation from the 11th century onward; in the year 974 Bishop Vives granted a charter of settlement and privileges to those who repopulated the castle, and between the 12th and 13th centuries it was under the control of the Banyeres family. It consists of a rectangular-plan tower and an enclosure with several rooms; at its foot stands the Romanesque church of Sant Miquel, documented since 1279.
Monument
Old watchtower of el Montmell, in the Baix Penedès, declared a bien cultural de interés nacional (Catalonia's highest level of heritage protection), located within the property of the Vallflor farmhouse, on the path that runs from Sant Jaume dels Domenys and Aiguaviva to Can Ferrer. There remain the ruins of a small, slightly trapezoidal tower, with walls between 60 and 80 centimetres thick and a height of about five metres on the north side, which must have had at least one upper floor; it appears to be a small guard post built at a late date, around the 13th century. Linked to the nearby house of Vallflor, it served as a lookout over the fields of the vall de Sant Marc; the 1341 ordinances of el Montmell mention a certain Berenguer de Vallflor, owner of olive trees at la Cogullada.
Monument
Medieval watchtower, also known as the Torre de Cal Saumell, located in the municipality of el Montmell, next to the road from Aiguaviva to Vila-rodona; it has given its name to the hill on which it stands. It is a circular tower less than three metres in diameter and seven metres high, with the lower space closed by a false vault; originally it had an upper floor where the access door opened. Inside, remains of opus spicatum are preserved, the herringbone-bond technique typical of early medieval buildings.
Monument
The complex of Can Ferrer and the Mas de les Ventoses, in the municipality of el Montmell (Baix Penedès, Tarragona), combines a defensive tower of medieval origin, built between the 13th and 15th centuries on a rocky outcrop, with a farmhouse that was gradually extended around it. The tower, of quadrangular plan and squared stone bonded with lime mortar, preserves three floors, arrow slits and a pointed arch inside; the walls of the farmhouse have a batter, and the complex also includes an oven and several rooms. The site offers a clear view of the sea to the south, suggesting a deliberate defensive origin. It is declared a bien cultural de interés nacional (Catalonia's highest level of heritage protection).
Monument
The Castellot de Mas Mateu, declared a Bien Cultural de Interés Nacional (Catalonia's highest level of heritage protection), is a medieval fortress in the municipality of el Montmell of which a ruined square tower survives, ten by ten metres in plan and with nine metres of height preserved, built of large, well-fitted ashlar blocks. Inside, remains of a dividing wall that split the space into two rooms can be seen.
Nature
The Serra del Montmell is a mountain range covered in holm oak woods located in the municipality of El Montmell, in the Baix Penedès, between this comarca and the Alt Camp, with a large viewpoint and remains of castles and hermitages. Its highest point is the Puig de la Talaia, at 861.3 metres of altitude.
Curiosity
A village deserted since the mid-20th century, with its castle and church in ruins, in the heart of the Montmell range.
Activity
Main festival of Montmell, a town in the comarca of the Baix Penedès (Tarragona). The article on the town places it in la Joncosa, the capital of the district, where it is celebrated on the first weekend of August. The local festive calendar also includes the fira de Sant Pere, on 29 June, and the grape-harvest festival, in autumn.
Activity
The traditional Sant Jaume aplec (gathering) in el Montmell.
Historical milestone
The sierra was during the tenth century a frontier line between the Catalan counties and the Andalusi territories. Its castle, documented in those years, controlled the passes towards the plain and organised the later repopulation of the Penedès.