Òrrius is a village and

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

in the

comarca A ''comarca'' (, or , or ) is a traditional region or local administrative division found in Portugal, Spain and some of their former colonies, like Brazil, Nicaragua, and Panama. The term is derived from the term ''marca'', meaning a "march, ...

Maresme Maresme () is a ''comarca'' (county) located along the Catalan Mediterranean coast in Spain, between the ''comarques'' of Barcelonès (at the Southwest) and Selva (at the Northeast), and also bordering with Vallès Oriental (at the west). Its c ...

in the

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

and

autonomous community eu, autonomia erkidegoa ca, comunitat autònoma gl, comunidade autónoma oc, comunautat autonòma an, comunidat autonoma ast, comunidá autónoma , alt_name = , map = , category = Autonomous administra ...

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...

, Spain. The municipality is delimited by

La Roca del Vallès La Roca del Vallès is a village in the Comarques of Catalonia, comarca of Vallès Oriental in the Provinces of Spain, province of Province of Barcelona, Barcelona and Catalonia. The municipality covers an area of and the population in 2014 was 10 ...

to the North,

Vilassar de Dalt Vilassar de Dalt () is a village in Catalonia, Spain, in the province of Barcelona and the ''comarca'' of Maresme Maresme () is a '' comarca'' (county) located along the Catalan Mediterranean coast in Spain, between the ''comarques'' of Barce ...

to the South East,

Argentona Argentona is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of the Maresme in Catalonia, Spain. It is situated on the south-east side of the granite Litoral range, to the north-west of Mataró. The town is both a tourist centre and a notable horticultural cen ...

to the south, and

Cabrils Cabrils is a city and municipality in the comarca of Maresme in the province of Barcelona and autonomous community of Catalonia, Spain. It is situated between the municipalities of Vilassar de Mar, Vilassar de Dalt, Òrrius, Argentona and Cabrera ...

to the southwest.

History

Cited for the first time as ''vila de Orreos'' in documents from 974. This name, that has its origin in

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

, means "Barns". It formed part of the lands of the Lords of Burriac until in 1357 King

Peter IV of Aragon Peter IV, ; an, Pero, ; es, Pedro, . In Catalan, he may also be nicknamed ''el del punyalet'': "he of the little dagger". (Catalan: ''Pere IV''; 5 September 1319 – 6 January 1387), called the Ceremonious (Catalan: ''el Cerimoniós''), w ...

conceded jurisdiction of the area to the Lords of Roca del Vallés.

Main sights

The village is centred on the church of Sant Andreu (

Saint Andrew Andrew the Apostle ( grc-koi, Ἀνδρέᾱς, Andréās ; la, Andrēās ; , syc, ܐܰܢܕ݁ܪܶܐܘܳܣ, ʾAnd’reʾwās), also called Saint Andrew, was an apostle of Jesus according to the New Testament. He is the brother of Simon Peter ...

), built in the 16th century in the late

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

style. It is on the Latin cross plan, and has back to back chapels that were added later. There is also a small Romanesque hermitage. The bell tower is of later construction, being added to the church in 1826. In 1981 treasure, in the form of coins from the time of

Berenguer Ramón II Berenguer Ramon II "the Fratricide" (1053/54 – 1097/99) was count of Barcelona from 1076 to 1097. He was the son of Ramon Berenguer I and Almodis of La Marche, and initially ruled jointly with his twin brother Ramon Berenguer II. Born in 10 ...

, was found within the church. Also within the Municipality is the church of Sant Bartomeu de Cabanyes, first recorded in 1191.

Events

Òrrius celebrates its fiesta mayor on 30 November, the Feast of Saint Andrew. During this fiesta ''peixos'' are eaten; a small cake, typical to the village, in the form of a fish. There is also the ''Festa de la Plantada del Maig'', celebrated on the second Saturday of May, where a tall tree that has been carried around the village by the villagers is planted in the town square.

Economy

Traditionally, the principal economic activity is agriculture. Nevertheless, the proximity of the village to

Mataró Mataró () is the capital and largest town of the ''comarca'' of the Maresme, in the province of Barcelona, Catalonia Autonomous Community, Spain. It is located on the Costa del Maresme, to the south of Costa Brava, between Cabrera de Mar and Sa ...

means that since the 1970s the village has become home to many residents of that town. For this reason, many inhabitants work outside the village. There is little industrial activity, though there is a small

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...

quarry that continues to be exploited.

References

External links

General Information

Government data pages
{{DEFAULTSORT:Orrius Municipalities in Maresme