Santa Maria d'Oló

Santa Maria d'Oló parish
	Santa Maria d'Oló - town view
Basic data
Autonomous Community :	Catalonia
Province :	Barcelona
Comarca :	Moianès
Coordinates	41 ° 52 ' N , 2 ° 2' E Coordinates: 41 ° 52 ' N , 2 ° 2' E
Height :	542 msnm
Area :	66.48 km²
Residents :	1,025 (Jan 1, 2019)
Population density :	15.42 inhabitants / km²
Postal code :	08273
Municipality number ( INE ):	08258
administration
Website :	www.olo.cat/catala/

Santa Maria d'Oló is a place and a municipality ( municipi ) with 1025 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2019) in the Comarca Moianès in the province of Barcelona in the autonomous region of Catalonia . The municipality also includes the towns of La Frau, El Pla de Gassetes, Raval de Santa Eulàlia, Raval de la Rovirola, Sant Feliuet de Terrassola, Sant Joan d'Oló and Sant Vicenç de Vilarassau , most of which, however, have only a few inhabitants .

location

The place Santa Maria d'Oló is located on an approximately 550 meter high elevation in the cultural and wine landscape of Pla de Bages . The cities of Barcelona and Manresa are about 90 kilometers (driving distance) south and about 30 kilometers southwest, respectively.

Population development

year	1960	1970	1981	1990	2000	2008
Residents	1,226	1,173	1,089	1,047	1.006	1,089

Since the second half of the 19th century, the population has remained relatively constant - despite the progressive mechanization of agriculture .

economy

In the past, the inhabitants lived mainly as self-sufficient farmers from agriculture , which also included growing wine and olives as well as keeping cattle (especially pigs). Large parts of the municipality are forested and so forestry and hiking tourism also play an important role. Two local textile factories were closed in the middle of the 20th century.

history

So far no finds have been made from the Iberian , Roman , Visigothic and Islamic periods. In the 9th and 10th centuries the area was recaptured ( reconquista ), repopulated ( repoblación ) and secured with castles ( castells ) by the Counts of Barcelona . Two castles from the 10th century, barely noticeable today, were under the control of the Counts of Barcelona for a long time until they were sold to the monastery of Santa Maria de l'Estany in the 14th century . In the period that followed, a fierce dispute broke out over property rights, in the course of which the crossing tower of the monastery church was partially destroyed.

Attractions

Masia de Cal Sant Miquel

Masia Rocabruna

Santa Maria d'Oló

Only sparse remains of the two medieval castles ( Castell d'Aguiló and Castell d'Oló ) have survived .

The church of Santa Maria , built from quarry stones and therefore old-fashioned, dates from the 18th century.

Many of the town's buildings are more recent - including the modern-looking church, which was built between 1950 and 1963.

In the vicinity of the place there are several individual manors ( masies ) from different eras and in different states of preservation.

The small chapel or hermit church of Sant Miquel d'Oló is about one and a half kilometers from the village and is in a ruinous state.

Sant Feliuet de Terrassola

The former three- apse Romanesque church of Sant Feliuet was redesigned in the 18th century and partially integrated into a manor ( masia ).

Vilanova

The small round church of Sant Jaume dates back to the 11th century and is - besides the much more imposing one by Sallent de Llobregat - the only example of this type of church in Catalonia.