Conesa, a medieval village to discover in the heart of the Conca de Barberà

There are towns that invite you to arrive without haste. To leave the car, start walking, and let the streets tell the story. Conesa, in the Conca de Barberà region, is one of those places.

Small, peaceful, and surrounded by fields and forests, the town preserves a medieval old quarter where it's still easy to imagine what life must have been like centuries ago. Gateways, narrow alleyways, arcades, stone houses, and the church presiding over the whole make a stroll through the village a journey back in time.

But Conesa is more than just heritage. It's also a town that keeps its festivals, local cuisine, and traditions alive, marking the calendar throughout the year. It's one of those ideal destinations for those seeking to discover the more tranquil inland Catalonia and visit towns that have preserved their unique identity.

A medieval center that invites you to stroll

The history of Conesa is documented from the Middle Ages. In 1043, Ramon Berenguer I granted the site to Bernat Seniofred with the commission to build a fortress and cultivate the land. By 1073, the castle was already built and a small settlement had begun to form around it.

During the following centuries, the territory passed through different hands until the Santes Creus monastery exercised jurisdiction over it for several centuries, a connection that still leaves its mark on local history and heritage today.

It was primarily during the 14th century that Conesa became established. The town center was walled, and some vestiges of that defensive structure are still preserved, most notably two of the old gates: the Portal Reial or Sant Antoni Gate and the Portal de Santa Maria Gate. Inside, the town maintains five narrow streets that retain much of their medieval atmosphere, with old arcades and stone buildings.

Stepping through one of these portals is probably the best way to start the visit.

From here on, there's no need to follow a strict itinerary. Conesa is a town to discover on foot and at a leisurely pace, letting yourself wander through the alleyways, observing the facades, and looking for those small architectural details that often go unnoticed when we travel in a hurry.

This human scale is precisely one of the town's greatest attractions. You don't need a whole day to start exploring it, but it's easy to end up spending much more time there than you planned.

The Church of Santa Maria and the legacy of Santes Creus

Among the most outstanding buildings in the town is the parish church of Santa Maria.

Built in the 14th century, it is primarily Gothic in style, although it retains an archway from the earlier Romanesque structure. Above the entrance is an image of the Virgin Mary accompanied by two angels, and inside there is also a 15th-century silver cross.

Nearby is Casa Delmera, built in 1569 by order of the Abbot of Santes Creus on the site of the former Montpaó castle. It is another testament to the close relationship that Conesa maintained for centuries with the Cistercian monastery.

The presence of Santes Creus is key to understanding local history. The monastery had jurisdiction over Conesa until 1835, when political changes and the confiscation of church property brought an end to a period that had lasted for centuries.

The town's history, however, was not always peaceful. During the 15th century, plague epidemics and the war against John II ushered in a period of decline. Later, the wars that affected the entire country also left their mark on the town, and in 1885, Conesa suffered a severe cholera epidemic.

Walking through its streets today, it's hard to imagine these events. And it is precisely this contrast between the current serenity and the accumulated history that makes the visit especially interesting.

Beyond the core: Sant Pere de Savella and the boundary crosses

Discovering Conesa also means looking beyond its historic center.

In the abandoned village of Savella stands the Romanesque church of Sant Pere, built between the late 12th and early 13th centuries. It is a single-nave church with a pointed vault and a portal decorated with capitals. The complex also houses a life-size Gothic image of Saint Peter, carved in polychrome stone during the 14th century.

The municipality also preserves two ancient boundary crosses. La Creueta is located on the road to Forès, while La Creu, situated towards Santa Coloma de Queralt, dates from the 14th century and stands atop a column approximately eight meters high. It displays the coats of arms of Catalonia and Santes Creus, further evidence of the monastery's influence in this territory.

These are elements that help to understand Conesa not as an isolated nucleus, but as a piece within a historical landscape of roads, farmland, small settlements and relationships between towns.

A town that keeps its traditions alive

Despite its small size, Conesa's festive calendar is surprisingly active.

In March the traditional pig slaughter is celebrated and in April comes the cassola de tros meal, two events that maintain the gastronomic and community component of many rural festivals.

May brings the votive festival of Sant Antoni and the Corpus Christi carpets, while in June there is no shortage of the Sant Joan festival.

During the summer, the town becomes even more lively. In July, several cultural Saturdays are scheduled, featuring music, theater, and dance. And on the first Saturday of August, one of the highlights of the calendar takes place: the Mercat Vell de Conesa, an event that perfectly complements the historic atmosphere of its streets.

The summer festival is celebrated on August 15th, with activities such as workshops, habaneras, dancing, and accordion player gatherings.

September continues with popular celebrations such as the herring stew, the lacemakers' gathering, and the mountain race and popular walk. And in November comes the main festival in honor of Santa Victòria, which traditionally takes place on the third weekend of the month.

These celebrations reveal another side of Conesa. Beyond the stones and monuments, there is a town that continues to use its streets as a meeting place.

Discover Conesa at your own pace

Perhaps Conesa is not a place to arrive at with a long list of monuments that you have to check off one after another.

And that is precisely part of its charm.

The proposal is much simpler: enter the town through an old medieval gate, walk through the alleyways and observe the arcades, reach the church, imagine the castle that once dominated the center and then continue along the paths that connect the municipality with the landscape of the Conca de Barberà.

With just over a hundred inhabitants according to 2025 data, Conesa maintains a scale that allows you to savor that feeling of calm that we often seek when we get away from the most crowded destinations.

Here, history is not concentrated inside a museum.

It's in the doorways, in the houses, at the crossroads, and on the stones of the church. But it's also in the festivals that continue to bring neighbors together, in the shared meals, and in the traditions that are repeated year after year.

Discovering Conesa is, ultimately, discovering a small town with many centuries of history, a corner of the Conca de Barberà where it is still worthwhile to do what we often forget when we travel: walk slowly, look around us and let the town itself tell us its story.

Header photo: Ventadorm - Wikimedia Commons - CC BY-SA 3.0