Olesa de Bonesvalls is a village and municipality in the Alt Penedès

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, ...

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. Until 1990 it was included in

Garraf Garraf (), better known as El Garraf (), is a comarca (county) in the province of Barcelona, Catalonia, northern Spain. It is named after the Garraf Massif. The GR 92 long distance footpath, which roughly follows the length of the Mediterranea ...

comarca. It is located in the Garraf natural park, and includes its highest peak Montau, at 653m. The land is stony

karst Karst is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble rocks such as limestone, dolomite, and gypsum. It is characterized by underground drainage systems with sinkholes and caves. It has also been documented for more weathering-resistant ro ...

with many caves, notably "Avenc de l'Esquerrà" at 348 m, the deepest in Spain. Its most notable building is Hospital de Cervelló, a fortified hostel complex for travellers dating from 1262, which has remained in good condition. Its economy is based mainly around agriculture, predominantly vineyards and orchards, and small local industry. Its population was 1,735 in 2014. The municipality is traversed by the road between the towns of

Avinyonet del Penedès Avinyonet del Penedès is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of the Alt Penedès in Catalonia, Spain. It is situated in the south-east of the ''comarca'', and is served by the N-340 road between Barcelona and Tarragona. The ''ajuntament'' (town ha ...

and

Gavà Gavà () is a municipality in the Baix Llobregat comarca, in the province of Barcelona in Catalonia, Spain. It borders the coast of the Mediterranean Sea between Viladecans and Castelldefels. Gavà has a beach and two population centers: the cit ...

History

In 1262 Olesa de Bonesvalls hosted a two-floor hospital whose architecture reproduced the Italian infirmaries of

Fossanova Fossanova Abbey, earlier Fossa Nuova, is a Church (building), church that was formerly a Cistercian abbey located near the railway-station of Priverno in province of Latina, Latina, Italy, about south-east of Rome. History Fossanova is one of t ...

Viterbo Viterbo (; Viterbese: ; lat-med, Viterbium) is a city and ''comune'' in the Lazio region of central Italy, the capital of the province of Viterbo. It conquered and absorbed the neighboring town of Ferento (see Ferentium) in its early history. ...

and

Casamari Casamari Abbey is a Cistercian abbey in the Province of Frosinone, Lazio, Italy, about 10 kilometers (6 miles) east-south-east of Veroli. It marks the site of Cereatae, the birthplace of Caius Marius, afterwards known, as inscriptions attest, as ...

. Olesa was one of the oldest Spanish hospitals, along with

Coll de Balaguer The Coll de Balaguer is a mountain pass in Catalonia, Spain. It is located at the point where the Catalan Pre-Coastal Range reaches the sea, in L'Almadrava, within the Vandellòs i l'Hospitalet de l'Infant municipality, Baix Camp. Despite its sc ...

and Vich.

Demography

References

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

External links

Official website

Government data pages
Municipalities in Alt Penedès {{Barcelona-geo-stub