Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Sant Sadurní d'Anoia
The small town of
Sant Sadurní d'Anoia
(population 12,000), built on land watered by the
Riu Noya, has been an important centre of wine production since the eighteenth century.
When,attheendofthenineteenthcentury,Frenchvineyardssufferedheavilyfromphiloxera,
Sant Sadurní prospered, though later it too succumbed to the same wasting disease -
somethingrememberedstillintheannualSeptemberfestivalbytheparadeofarepresentation
of the feared philoxera parasite. The production of cava, for which the town is now famous,
began only in the 1870s - an industry that went hand in hand with the Catalan cork business,
establishedintheforestsofthehinterland.Today,ahundredmillionbottlesayearofcavaare
turned out by dozens of companies, many of which are only too happy to escort you around
their premises, show you the fermentation process and let you taste a glass or two.
The wineries
Freixenet
• Daily tours and tastings, schedule varies, see website; reservations suggested • €6.50, under-18s
€3.90, under-8s free • 938 917 000,
freixenet.es
•
Codorníu
Mon-Fri 9am-5pm, Sat & Sun 9am-1pm;
reservations suggested • 938 913 342,
www.codorniu.com
Most people never get any further than the most prominent and most famous company,
Freixenet
- producer of those distinctive black bottles - whose building is right outside the
train station. Many other companies have similar arrangements, including the out-of-town
Codorníu
- the region's earliest cava producer - which has a fine building by
modernista
architect Josep Puig i Cadafalch as an added attraction. In addition, there are several dozen
other
caves
or cellars in and around town, all shown on a map available at the Sant Sadurní
tourist office.
Vilafranca del Penedès
As a town,
Vilafranca del Penedès
is rather more interesting than Sant Sadurní. Founded in
the eleventh century in an attempt to attract settlers to land retaken from the expelled Moors,
it became a prosperous market centre. This character is still in evidence today, with a com-
pact old town at whose heart lie narrow streets and arcaded squares adorned with restored
medieval mansions.
Fromthetrainstation,walkuptothemainRambladeNostraSenyoraandcuttotherightup
c/de Sant Joan to the enclosed Plaça de Sant Joan, which has a small daily produce
market
.
AratherlargeraffairtakesplaceeverySaturday,whenthestallsalsostockclothes,household
goods, handicrafts and agricultural gear. The
Festa Major
, meanwhile, at the end of August
and the first couple of days in September, brings the place to a standstill: dances and parades
clog the streets, while the festival is most widely known for its display of
castellers
- teams
of people competing to build human towers).
Vinseum
Pl. Jaume I 5 • Tues-Sat 10am-2pm & 4-7pm, Sun & hols 10am-2pm • €3 • 938 900 582,
vinseum.cat
