Sant Sadurnà d'Anoia () is a
municipality
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality' ...
in the
''comarca'' of the
Alt Penedès in
Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...
; 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 confluence of the
Avernó river and the
Anoia river. It is accessible by the AP-7
''autopis'' and the
Renfe railway line (R4) that connect
Barcelona
Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of 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 c ...
with
Manresa
Manresa () is the capital of Bages county, located in the central region of Catalonia, Spain.
Crossed by the river Cardener, it is an industrial area with textile, metallurgical, and glass industries. The houses of Manresa are arranged aro ...
and
El Vendrell.
The
''noucentista'' buildings of the
CodornÃu ''cava'' house on the edge of the town were designed by
Josep Puig i Cadafalch.
History
Sant Sadurnà has its origins in the old parish of Sant Sadurnà de Subirats, documented in 1080.
It was part of the barony of the finished castle of Subirats, in the hands of noble families, until in 1493 it was incorporated into the Crown of
Aragon
Aragon ( , ; Spanish and ; ) is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces of Spain, ...
. For centuries, Sant Sadurnà de Subirats was little more than a set of houses aligned along the road between Tarragona and Barcelona. Its geographic situation allowed a greater development of the population with respect to the near parishes that formed the University of Subirats: Sant Pau d'Ordal, Sant Pere Lavern, and Sant Sadurnà de Subirats.
In 1764 Sant Sadurnà de Subirats achieved independence as a municipality. At this point it adopted its present name, taken as a nickname from one of the rivers that cross it, the Anoia River. The history of Sant Sadurnà was decisive in the late nineteenth century. With a strongly
viticulture
Viticulture (, "vine-growing"), viniculture (, "wine-growing"), or winegrowing is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine ...
-oriented agriculture, from 1872 onwards, the first bottles of
cava were made. In 1887 he was heavily affected by the
phylloxera plague, but he was able to react strongly and became one of the leading places in the fight against the plague.
The production of ''
cava'', which had started timidly shortly before the
phylloxera
Grape phylloxera is an insect pest of grapevines worldwide, originally native to eastern North America. Grape phylloxera (''Daktulosphaira vitifoliae'' (Fitch 1855) belongs to the family Phylloxeridae, within the order Hemiptera, bugs); orig ...
, then took a definitive boost, becoming the most important production center.
Village Festivals
*"Festes dels Barris": for seven days from the first Thursday of Corpus. Every day the celebration of one of the seven classic districts that make up the town is celebrated: Ajuntament (city hall), Sant Antoni, Montserrat, Església (church), Diputació, Cavallers, and Raval. During the week of neighborhoods, at 2 noon throws a thunderstorm to symbolize the relief of one neighborhood to another. At dusk, there is a fire castle. And the next day the Rengle is carried out, a parade through the streets of the neighborhood ending in the Parochial Church. The district council, in addition, creates a fault and the Barri Església guards the street with a carpet of flowers.
*"Les Fires i Festes": from 6 to 9 September to commemorate the harvest, and especially the "Phylloxera Festival", which is celebrated every evening on the 8th of September in Plaça de l ' Church, to remember the history of the plague, the battle between the peasants and the insect and the final victory. They are the main celebrations of the town. In the past, they were very important as a fair, as it was the time when the farmer took advantage of the vintage, bought horse and car, barrels and tools to work the land and make wine, etc. With the passage of time, the constant technological evolution has made the play part have gained the ground in the commercial part. On September 6 before the opening, the typical meeting of Cushion Point is made. At 8 in the afternoon, there is the traditional opening of the fairs where the party is officially inaugurated, after the closing ceremony and the exhibition of the hawks from the country of the cava of Sant SadurnÃ. At night, the korrebars, summer carnival, concerts and party are held until dawn. On September 7 there are children's shows, tennis and soccer tournaments. In the afternoon, children's and
sardana shows are also performed. At 10 am and at midnight a fire castle is thrown at the Parc del Gat Cendrer. Just after the fire castle begins the spread of phylloxera, it is a representation of the appearance of the phylloxera pest by making two
phylloxis of fifteen phylloxerets that cross several streets to find themselves in the square of Era d'en Guineu, a square located in front of Can Guineu, a building that was the owner of Marc Mir and Capella one of the Seven Wise Men of Greece who fought for the fight against phylloxera. There also intervenes the great phylloxera.
*"La setmana del ''
cava''": second week of October with the acts of the cava brotherhood to crown the ambassadors of the cava. The town hall also organizes the "Cavatast" fair, where the best cavers are gathered to taste their best cavas.
*"Festa Major": on November 29, to celebrate the patron saint of the town, Sant SadurnÃ.
Subdivisions
Four outlying villages are included within the municipality of Sant Sadurnà d'Anoia (
population
Population is a set of humans or other organisms in a given region or area. Governments conduct a census to quantify the resident population size within a given jurisdiction. The term is also applied to non-human animals, microorganisms, and pl ...
s as of 2005)
*Can Benet de la Prua (94)
*Can Catassús (124)
*Espiells (54), with its
pre-Romanesque church of Sant Benet
*Monistrol d'Anoia (28)
Sport
The town hosted the
individual road race cycling event for the
1992 Summer Olympics
The 1992 Summer Olympics (, ), officially the Games of the XXV Olympiad (, ) and officially branded as Barcelona '92, were an international multi-sport event held from 25 July to 9 August 1992 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Beginning in 1994 ...
.
Roller Hockey
The city has a
roller hockey team
Club Esportiu Noia, one of the most important in
Spain
Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
, and play in the main League
OK Liga.
Twin towns
*
Cañete la Real, Spain
Notable people
*
Pau Bargalló Poch, roller hockey player, current world champion.
*
Jordi Bargalló Poch, roller hockey player, world champion in 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013.
*
Pedro Gil Gómez, roller hockey player.
*
MarÃa Asunción Raventós, artist.
*
Miquel Reina, author and designer.
*
Àlex Moreno, footballer who plays for Aston Villa (Currently on loan to Nottingham Forest).
*
Javier del Amor, Spanish former motorcycle racer
References
1992 Summer Olympics official report.Volume 2. pp. 308–10.
*Panareda Clopés, Josep Maria; Rios Calvet, Jaume; Rabella Vives, Josep Maria (1989). ''Guia de Catalunya'', Barcelona: Caixa de Catalunya. (Spanish). (Catalan).
External links
*
*
Government data pages
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sant Sadurni D'anoia
Venues of the 1992 Summer Olympics
Municipalities in Alt Penedès
Olympic cycling venues