L'Estany

L'Estany municipality
L'Estany - monastery church and view of the town
coat of arms	Map of Spain
Basic data
Autonomous Community :	Catalonia
Province :	Barcelona
Comarca :	Moianès
Coordinates	41 ° 52 ′  N , 2 ° 7 ′  E Coordinates: 41 ° 52 ′  N , 2 ° 7 ′  E
Height :	870  msnm
Area :	10.11 km²
Residents :	406 (Jan. 1, 2019)
Population density :	40.16 inhabitants / km²
Postal code :	08148
Municipality number  ( INE ):	08079
administration
Website :	www.estany.cat

L'Estany is a place and a municipality ( municipi ) with 406 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2019) in the comarca Moianès in the province of Barcelona in the autonomous region of Catalonia . The town of El Raval del Prat , which has only about 20 inhabitants, also belongs to the municipality .

location

L'Estany is located at an altitude of about 870 meters above sea level. d. M. in a lake or marshland drained by the monks of the monastery in the cultural landscape of Pla de Bages . The cities of Barcelona and Manresa are about 68 kilometers south and about 42 kilometers southwest, respectively.

Population development

year	1960	1970	1981	1990	2000	2011
Residents	457	365	382	386	398	389

In the second half of the 19th century the community had over 600 inhabitants at times; however , since then the mechanization of agriculture has led to a steady loss of jobs and a migration of many residents to the urban centers.

economy

In the past, the inhabitants lived mainly as a self-sufficient living from agriculture , which also included growing wine and keeping cattle. At the end of the 18th and early 19th centuries, the Pla de Bages region developed into an important wine-growing region , but the communities suffered particularly from the phylloxera crisis as a result. In the last few decades there has been an increase in income from tourism .

history

Alley in the place

So far, no finds have been made from the Iberian , Roman , Visigothic and Islamic periods - the area was probably too swampy. In the 9th and 10th centuries, the region was recaptured from the hands of Islam by the Counts of Barcelona ( reconquista ). The existence of a church is documented as early as the 10th century, but today's place was built in the immediate vicinity of the Santa Maria de l'Estany monastery, which was founded in the 11th century .

Attractions

• The Romanesque monastery church and the cloister are the main attractions of the place.
• In the old town center there are still two streets with houses built from quarry stones.
• The small Mas La Carrera estate dates back to the 15th century.

literature

• Vicenç Buron: Esglésies Romàniques Catalanes. Artestudi Edicions, Barcelona 1977, p. 85, ISBN 84-85180-06-2 .

Web links

Commons : L'Estany  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• L'Estany, Monastery - Photos + Info (Catalan)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Cifras oficiales de población resultantes de la revisión del Padrón municipal a 1 de enero . Population statistics from the Instituto Nacional de Estadística (population update).