Piera is a

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 ...

that covers a large portion of the southeastern corner of 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, ...

Anoia Anoia () is a Comarques of Catalonia, comarca (county) in central Catalonia, Spain, with its capital at Igualada. The comarca of l'Anoia is irrigated by the Anoia River; the leading industry is the making of paper. To the north are Solsonès an ...

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, on the left bank of the

Anoia river The Anoia (''Noya'' in Spanish) is a river in Catalonia, Spain, most of whose course is within the ''comarca'' of the same name. Its source is in the municipality of Veciana (Anoia) at an elevation of about . It passes through Igualada and crosse ...

. The agricultural land, mostly non-irrigated, is used for the cultivation of

cereal A cereal is any Poaceae, grass cultivated for the edible components of its grain (botanically, a type of fruit called a caryopsis), composed of the endosperm, Cereal germ, germ, and bran. Cereal Grain, grain crops are grown in greater quantit ...

grape A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry, of the deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus ''Vitis''. Grapes are a non- climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters. The cultivation of grapes began perhaps 8,000 years ago, ...

olive The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'', meaning 'European olive' in Latin, is a species of small tree or shrub in the family Oleaceae, found traditionally in the Mediterranean Basin. When in shrub form, it is known as ''Olea europaea'' ...

s and

almond The almond (''Prunus amygdalus'', syn. ''Prunus dulcis'') is a species of tree native to Iran and surrounding countries, including the Levant. The almond is also the name of the edible and widely cultivated seed of this tree. Within the genus ...

s. The town itself hosts a number of light industries:

textile Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the ...

plastic Plastics are a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic materials that use polymers as a main ingredient. Their plasticity makes it possible for plastics to be moulded, extruded or pressed into solid objects of various shapes. This adaptab ...

s and construction materials. Tourism during the summer months is also relatively important for the local economy. The FGC railway line R6 from

Martorell Martorell () is a municipality that forms part of the Baix Llobregat Comarques of Catalonia, comarca, in Catalonia, Spain, primarily known for its medieval Pont del Diable, Devil's bridge. It lies at the confluence of the Llobregat and Anoia Rive ...

and

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 ...

Igualada Igualada () is a municipality in the province of Barcelona in Catalonia, Spain. It is located on the left bank of the Anoia River and at the western end of the Igualada-Martorell-Barcelona Railway. Igualada is the capital and central market of the ...

runs through the town, while local roads lead to

Capellades Capellades () is a town in Catalonia, Spain, located in the south of the comarca of Anoia, some sixty metres above the Anoia river where it cuts through the Catalan Coastal Range. The C-15 trunk road from Vilafranca del Penedès and the FGC rail ...

and

Sant Sadurní d'Anoia Sant Sadurní d'Anoia is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of the Alt Penedès in Catalonia, Spain; and the centre of production of a sparkling wine known as '' cava''. It is situated in the north-east of the Penedès Depression at the confluen ...

. Notable monuments include the castle of Fontanet. The castle which was restored in 1916 by Ramon de Viala d'Aiguavives, Baron of Almenar is documented in 955 a.c. and now used for private functions. The sister of the Baron of Almenar, Isabel de Viala d'Aiguavives also financed and patroned the modernist church of

Ca n'Aguilera CA or ca may refer to: Businesses and organizations Companies * Air China (IATA airline code CA) * CA Technologies, a U.S. software company * Cayman Airways, a Cayman Islands airline * Channel America, a defunct U.S. television network * Classic ...

which was donated to Barcelona's Bishop by

Zaragoza de Viala Zaragoza, also known in English as Saragossa,''Encyclopædia Britannica'"Zaragoza (conventional Saragossa)" is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributari ...

family in 1921. The architect of Ca N'Aguilera modernist church is

Francesc Berenguer i Mestres Francesc Berenguer i Mestres (21 July 1866 – 8 February 1914) was a Spanish '' Modernista'' architect from Catalonia, and an assistant and friend of Antoni Gaudí. He was born in Reus. He worked with several architectural workshops. First, he wo ...

, who was

Antoni Gaudi Antoni is a Catalan, Polish, and Slovene given name and a surname used in the eastern part of Spain, Poland and Slovenia. As a Catalan given name it is a variant of the male names Anton and Antonio. As a Polish given name it is a variant of the fem ...

's disciple and personal friend. Another Piera relevant monument is the church of Santa Maria, with both Gothic and Roman elements.

Subdivisions

The municipality of Piera includes several outlying villages (''barris''): these are usually distinguished into the older, traditional settlements (''barris antics'') and the newer urbanisations which have been developed to cope with the expansion of the municipality (''barris nous'').

Population Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using a ...

s are given for 1999, from the Ajuntament de Piera and cited in ''Història de Piera'': the town of Piera (''nucli urbà'') had a population of 5036 at that date, whereas the total population of the municipality was 8551.

Traditional ''barris''

*El Bedorc (237), on the

(161) *Can Cairot (28) *Can Creixell (2) *La Fortesa (57), on the Anoia river at the southern point of the municipality *Sant Jaume Sesoliveres (213)

Newer ''barris''

*Bosc de l'Àliga (88) *Can Bonastre (490) *Can Bou (93) *Can Canals (602) *Can Claramunt (494) *Can Martí (222) *Can Mas (427) *Can Mata (166) *Castell de la Ventosa (51) *La Grua (20) *Vallbonica (26), on the road to

Vallbona d'Anoia Vallbona d'Anoia is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of Anoia in Catalonia, Spain. It is situated to the left of the Anoia river, on the road between Piera and Capellades. The town is served by a station on the FGC railway line R6 from Barce ...

*La Venta i Can Musarro (138)

Demography

Twin towns

Piera is twinned with: *

Estepa Estepa is a municipality in the extreme south-east of the province of Seville. It had a population of 12.631 in 2013. The town is located north of the Sierra del Becerro mountains. History Estepa possesses a very ancient past and has well-preserv ...

, Spain

Independence declaration

On 30 October 2012, Piera proclaimed itself as a

Free Catalan Territory The Free Catalan Territory are those declared municipalities or regions of Catalonia that had approved a motion in a plenary session by the councillors of the town or the region council, as they represent the municipality's local authority. Such m ...

References

*Panareda Clopés, Josep Maria; Rios Calvet, Jaume; Rabella Vives, Josep Maria (1989). "Guia de Catalunya", Barcelona: Caixa de Catalunya. . .

External links

*
Government data pages
{{Authority control Municipalities in Anoia