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History

Santa Oliva is a village that was founded more than one thousand years ago, and therefore it holds a large history. There are some documented news about the church of Santa Oliva, which dated from 938. The name appeared in the confirmation of the possessions of the Monastery of Sant Cugat del Vallès by Lluís d'Ultramarí, who was the Carlomagno's son.

In 986, Borrell II asked for some people and defenders to repopulate the area, specifically Santa Oliva.

Near 1012, the Abbot of Sant Cugat gave Santa Oliva to the Baron Isnabert with the aim that he inhabited it. Not only he did it but he also built a tower in there.

In 1050 some water mills were constructed. They belonged to the Sirs, who used the channels to water the vegetable gardens. These garden were the bases of the economy of the village.

In 1142, the owner of the castle was Pere de Santa Oliva. However, it was not totally independent because he was loyal to Guillem de Sant Martí, who was the owner of almost all the lands of the Penedès. He put in the hands of Pere de Santa Oliva the "Castlania d'Eramprunyà", that is, the lands from El Llobregat to El Garraf. When he died, there started some fight between his sons: Guillem-Ramon, the inheritor of the "Castlania del Castell d'Eramprunyà", Berenguer, The Abbot of Sant Cugat, and Bernat, the inheritor of the Castle of Santa Oliva. The litigation that Berenguer had with his brothers was solved in 1183, when the Archbishop of Tortosa pronounced sentence. He gave the castle and the township of Santa Oliva to Guillem, inheritor of Guillem-Ramon, but under the direct control of Sant Cugat. Guillem had also prohibited the possibility of selling or mortgaging it without being authorised by the Monastery of Sant Cugat.

Otherwise, the litigation between the members of the family went on. When Guillem de Santa Oliva died in 1226, his heiress and legitimate daughter and her stepbrother Guillem started a fight. The man, attacked and fired the castle at Easter, breaking the law of God and the protection of the king Jaume I. In 1239 Guillem had to pay the damages.

Sant Cugat, meanwhile the conflict could not be ended, started to buy the rights and ownerships that finally made it the owner of the castle, the lands and the Monastery of Santa Maria. During the following years, the Priorat of Santa Oliva won some preponderance, but it lost its power after the 14th.century, when it appeared some problems between the Monastery and the Church. In 1753, Ferran VI and the Santa Seu signed a treat where it was accorded that the Priorat de Santa Oliva started to depend of the Ardiaca of Vilafranca del Penedès. The fights continued on after the 19th.century. With the "Desamortización" of Mendizábal the lands were auctioned and El Priorat was bought by the peasants.

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Local Festivities

JANUARY

Cavalcada de Reis
Festa Major Petita o d'Hivern
Trobada de Gegants

FEBRUARY

Carnival dance and procession


APRIL

Feast of the book and the rose. Sant Jordi
Feast of the intercultural interchange

MAY

1st.of May. Workers Day
Exhibition of Motorbikes
Europe Day
Rally of ancient motorbikes from Santa Oliva to El Montmell

JUNE

Revetlla de Sant Joan (fair)
Festa Medieval
Revetlla de Sant Pere (fair)
Festa de la Primavera (organised by the youth)
Concurs de sardanes (dance competition)

JULY

Festes dels carrers (Feast of the streets)
Festes dels barris (Feast of the suburbs)

AUGUST

"Diables" meeting
Musical Nights in the Castle
Festa Major (last Thursday of August)

SEPTEMBER

Catalan national Days

OCTOBER

Amateur Theatre competition

DECEMBER

Christmas
New Year's Feast
Casal de Nadal

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Remarkable places

Santa Oliva was formed around the castle, which was made in honour to Sant Julià. It is in the way that arrives in El Vendrell. The streets of the village are narrow and sloped downwards the sea. Within the old nucleus we can find some houses with a set of very interesting architectonic details.

The most interesting building is the Castle of Santa Oliva or "Castle del Remei". It is formed by two lateral towers that formed a rectangular central nave with some battlements. The left tower is squared and has some battlements too. It also has some loopholes and half-point windows. The right tower is circular, and was built with the aim that it became a belfry.

In 1750, the devotion to the Mare de Déu del Remei was setted in a lateral altarpiece in the church of the castle. During the second half of the 19th.century, this devotion substituted the one to Sant Julià.

The Parish Church was made on honour to Santa Maria. It is a building with a Romance facade. It has a belfry with three parts, and a nave that was probably built between 1564 and 1569.

It is very interesting the Masia de L'Albornar too. L'Albornar was already mentioned in a document in 1010, in the famous testament of Adalbert. Nowadays, it is a big house, which is well conserved even though it has had some reconstructions made and added in different epochs.

*Interesting places

SALA DELS ARCS. Museum
President: Sílvia Bagüés
Contact telephone: 977 67 95 94
Visiting hours depending on the activity


CASTELL Verge del Remei and Església Parroquial de Santa Maria
Contact to: Josefina Carreras
Contact telephone: 977 67 95 14
Visiting hours: to arrange


MINES D'AIGUA
Contact to: Joan Prats Vidal
Contact telephone: 977 67 97 43
Visiting hours: to arrange

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Bibliography

- Coneguem la comarca. El Baix Penedès. Centre de Recursos Pedagògics Baix Penedès.- 1991
- Santa Oliva: mil anys de camí. Lola Díaz, Carme Castellano, Dídac Rocher. Edita Ajuntament de Santa Oliva 1986
- "El Nostre Poble ".- Revista local del municipi de Santa Oliva.
- Per l'agost, després del batre.- Maria Ramon. Edita Ajuntament de Santa Oliva.
- La parròquia de Santa Oliva del 1564 al 1997. Volum I. Edita Ajuntament de Santa Oliva.
- Temples, capelles i retaules de Santa Oliva del 1564 al 1997-Volum II. Edita Ajuntament de Santa Oliva.
- Llum de tardor i altres relats viatgers. Miquel Bové i Pañach- Edita Ajuntament de Santa Oliva.

 

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