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Concept
Vilafranca del Penedès
Summary
Vilafranca del Penedès, or simply Vilafranca (biləˈfɾaŋkə), is the capital of the comarca of the Alt Penedès in Catalonia, Spain. The Spanish form of the name, Villafranca del Panadés, is no longer in official use since 1982 (Law 12/1982, of 8 October). It is situated in the Penedès Depression on the left bank of the Foix River, and on the main axis of communication from Barcelona to Tarragona and Valencia, served by a Rodalies Barcelona line 4 and by the AP-7 autopista as well as by the C-243 towards Sant Sadurní d'Anoia, and C-15 (formerly called C-244) roads to Vilanova i la Geltrú and Igualada respectively.
The town was founded in the middle of the 12th century as a result of the decline of Olèrdola, which had been
until then the main local centre. It was established as the seat of a vegueria in 1304. The Corts were held in
the town in 1218 under King James I of Aragon, and again in 1358–59 and in 1367. King Peter III of Aragon died while staying at the royal palace in Vilafranca in 1285. Vilafranca is the birthplace of Raymond of Penyafort, O.P., a Catalonian Dominican (O.P.) friar born around 1175. St. Raymond compiled the Decretals of Gregory IX, a collection of canon law that remained the major corpus of canon law in the Roman Catholic Church until the 1917 and 1983 Codes of Canon Law. He was also instrumental in the founding of the Mercedarian Friars.
The gothic church of Santa Maria, the royal palace (Palau Reial) and the Palau Balta, are situated in the
historic town centre. The Palau Reial, from the thirteenth century houses the town museum, with collections of
archeology, paleontology, ornithology, ceramics and sacred art, and a Museum dedicated to Wine (Vinseum).
Other notable monuments include the church of Sant Joan, the convent of Sant Francesc and a number of old merchants'
houses such as the Palau del Fraret, Palau Macià, the Casal dels Gomà and the Casal del Marquès d'Alfarràs.
Vilafranca is a centre for the local wine industry, along with neighbouring Sant Sadurní d'Anoia.
Official source
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