Sant Martí de Maçana, or simply Maçana, is a small village situated in the municipality of

Rubió Rubió is a rural municipality in the ''comarca'' of Anoia in Catalonia, Spain. Its administrative centre is the village of Rubió, and other villages include Maçana and El Pla de Rubió. As of 2014, the municipality had 228 inhabitants. At i ...

, 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, ...

of the

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. It is bordered to the north by

Aguilar de Segarra Aguilar de Segarra is a municipality in the comarca of Bages, on the eastern edge of the comarca, in the province of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Aguilar de Segarra has several notable buildings: the Castle A castle is a type of fortified ...

and

Els Prats de Rei Els Prats de Rei is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of the Anoia in Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Sta ...

, to the east by

Castellfollit del Boix Castellfollit del Boix () is a village in the province of Barcelona and autonomous community of Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a '' ...

, to the south by

Òdena Òdena (Spanish: ''Ódena'') is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of the Anoia in Barcelona province, Catalonia, Spain. It is situated in the centre of the Òdena Basin, on the side of a small hill. The remains of Òdena castle with its octagon ...

and

, and to the west by

and

. Maçana is located on the north of the

Serra de Rubió The Serra de Rubió is a mountain range located in Catalonia, Spain, between the ''comarques'' of Anoia and Bages, and among the municipalities of Rubió, Castellfollit del Boix, Òdena and Els Prats de Rei. Its highest peak is the Còpia de Palom ...

mountain rage, in the valley of the Maçana river, tributary of the

Llobregat river The Llobregat () is the second longest river in Catalonia, Spain, after the Ter. It flows into the Mediterranean south of the city of Barcelona. Its name could have originated in an ancient Latin word meaning 'dark', 'sorrowful' or 'muddy', or ...

. The village was formed by the different farms that are found around the hermitage of Sant Martí. It has a population of 39 inhabitants, as of 2014.

Name and History

The main theory about the origin of the name "Maçana" is that it comes from the

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 ...

''Mathiana'', which means "apple". This name first appeared documented in 990. Also used until 1980 was the form Massana, and during the

Francoist Spain Francoist Spain ( es, España franquista), or the Francoist dictatorship (), was the period of Spanish history between 1939 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death in 1975, Spai ...

the name used was San Martín de Masana. During the 10th century there was a

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

, possibly under the mandate of Saint Iscle. Sant Martí de Maçana 2

The church of Saint Martin, of Romanesque origin, was completely renovated in the seventeenth century without leaving too many traces of the Romanesque style. The old town of Maçana was annexed to that of Rubió in 1840.

Coat of arms

The coat of arms of Maçana was established on 15 November 2014, in spite of not being officially recognized. The crown represents the Maçana Hill with the church of Saint Martin in the peak, and on the inferior part there is the ''

Senyera The Senyera (; meaning "pennon", "standard", "banner", "ensign", or, more generically, "flag" in Catalan language, Catalan) is a vexillological symbol based on the coat of arms of the Crown of Aragon, which consists of four red stripes on a yel ...

''.

Church of Sant Martí de Maçana

Sant Martí de Maçana is mentioned as a parish in 1154, within the old term of the Maçana castle (now defunct). First, it was dedicated to

Saint Martin of Tours Martin of Tours ( la, Sanctus Martinus Turonensis; 316/336 – 8 November 397), also known as Martin the Merciful, was the third bishop of Tours. He has become one of the most familiar and recognizable Christian saints in France, heralded as the ...

, but then, in the 14th century, it was dedicated to

Saint Acisclus Saint Acisclus (also Ascylus, Ocysellus; es, Acisclo; french: Aciscle) (died 304) was a martyr of Córdoba, in Hispania (the Iberian Peninsula, i.e., modern Portugal and Spain). His life is mentioned by Eulogius of Cordoba. He suffered marty ...

. Its architecture is in the plan of a Latin cross and covered with a pointed vault. Nowadays, the pattern of the church is of Saint Martin and

Saint Mark Mark the Evangelist ( la, Marcus; grc-gre, Μᾶρκος, Mârkos; arc, ܡܪܩܘܣ, translit=Marqōs; Ge'ez: ማርቆስ; ), also known as Saint Mark, is the person who is traditionally ascribed to be the author of the Gospel of Mark. Accor ...

. Externally it is covered with a gabled roof and has a quadrangular bell attached to the church. Between 1975 and 1981 the church was restored. Also attached to the building is the rectory dating from 1736. The town cemetery is next to the church. (2306 ft).

Festivities

There are two traditional festivities in Maçana, in Spring and in Autumn. The Autumn one is held on the nearest Sunday to 11 November, Saint Martin's day, patron of the church. Firstly the mass is held in the church, then a dance in the afternoon, and the raffle of a traditional cake, called "La Toia". The Spring celebration is larger and is held on the nearest Sunday to 25 April, Saint Mark's day, second patron of the church. Again a mass in the morning, and the raffle of a cake, plus the distribution of the bread, and also a classical game called ''Conill Porquí'' (

guinea pig The guinea pig or domestic guinea pig (''Cavia porcellus''), also known as the cavy or domestic cavy (), is a species of rodent belonging to the genus ''Cavia'' in the family Caviidae. Breeders tend to use the word ''cavy'' to describe the ani ...

Geography

Maçana is situated to the south of the natural

of the

Alta Segarra Alta or ALTA may refer to: Acronyms * Alt-A, short for Alternative A-paper, is a type of U.S. mortgage * American Land Title Association, a national trade association representing the land title industry * American Literary Translators Associatio ...

, on the north slope of the

. Its geography is very rugged, formed by some of the valleys of the Serra de Rubió. The centre is the Turó de Maçana. The

Còpia de Palomes The Còpia de Palomes is a mountain located in Catalonia, Spain. It has an elevation of . It is situated between the municipalities of Rubió and Òdena, in the ''comarca'' of the Anoia, province of Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on t ...

, of 837 metres (2746 ft), the highest peak of

, is situated to the northwest of Maçana. The river of Maçana, has several tributaries to the north of

, which end in the river Cardener.

Fauna

The fauna of Maçana is very diverse. Animals include the

boar The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The species is no ...

, the

squirrel Squirrels are members of the family Sciuridae, a family that includes small or medium-size rodents. The squirrel family includes tree squirrels, ground squirrels (including chipmunks and prairie dogs, among others), and flying squirrels. Squ ...

, the

rabbit Rabbits, also known as bunnies or bunny rabbits, are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also contains the hares) of the order Lagomorpha (which also contains the pikas). ''Oryctolagus cuniculus'' includes the European rabbit speci ...

, the

hare Hares and jackrabbits are mammals belonging to the genus ''Lepus''. They are herbivores, and live solitarily or in pairs. They nest in slight depressions called forms, and their young are able to fend for themselves shortly after birth. The ge ...

, the

fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

, the

deer Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the reindeer ...

and the

roe deer The roe deer (''Capreolus capreolus''), also known as the roe, western roe deer, or European roe, is a species of deer. The male of the species is sometimes referred to as a roebuck. The roe is a small deer, reddish and grey-brown, and well-adapt ...

. There are also many varieties of birds.

Notable residents

* Josep Ferrer Bujons: writer, poet, and Catalan

linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...

, who was born in Maçana in 1959.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sant Marti de Macana Municipalities in Anoia