Santa Coloma de Queralt

Santa Coloma de Queralt is located on the plateau that divides the regions of Anoia, Segarra and Conca de Barberà. It is located at the head of the Gaià river, between the Membrillo and Aguiló mountain ranges and the pre-coastal buttresses of the Queralt mountain range. It is considered the center of the natural region of the Baixa Segarra, administratively integrated in the Conca de Barberà.

The municipality of Santa Coloma de Queralt is formed by the districts of Aguiló, Las Rocas de Aguiló and La Puebla de Carivenys.

The first references to the population date back to 976. Around almost a thousand years ago, the village was the ancestral home of the barony of the Queralt, one of the most powerful feudal families of the Middle Ages and a firm ally of the Counts of Barcelona. The main monuments and buildings of the city, such as the Castle of the Counts, are today witnesses , now a cultural and social center, preserving the defense tower and revealing different architectural styles (Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque).

The city had an important Jewish community located in the call, neighborhood delimited between the Patio del Castillo, the walls, the Plaza Mayor and the Plaza de la Iglesia. Its activity was mainly commercial, and the saffron trade was especially important , in fact, Santa Coloma de Queralt was one of the main points of sale at the Catalan level, in the current Plaza de la Iglesia there were saffron tables, no the price of saffron was established. The village claims this past linked to saffron with the festival We are a land of saffron that takes place at the beginning of November, in times of crop collection.

Within the old town, we must highlight the Gothic Church of Santa María, it is a magnificent example of Catalan Gothic from the 14th century, as distinctive elements it has the bell tower and the bell tower with more than 40 meters. Inside, the Gothic altarpiece of San Lorenzo (fourteenth century) is the work of Jordi de Dios.

Near the Church of Santa María, on Calle Mayor number 17 we will find Cal Jaume Punto, an old drugstore, chocolate shop, confectionery, cherry and small workshop. It is documented in 1848 and closed at the end of the 1960s. In May of the year 2017 the store was reopened as a visitable space. It should be noted that the store has not only retained original windows, lights and furniture, but also that all products, materials and work tools belong to the store.

Outside the old town, we will find the Church of Santa María de Bell·lloc, its construction is located in the first quarter of the 13th century. The façade presides, a Romanesque cover of half a point and decorations in the archivolt, capitals and columns. Inside, the fourteenth-century tombs of Pere IV de Queralt and Francesca de Castellnou, a unique work with representations of the ceremony of "Running the guns", are preserved.

Other important elements of the city are the Fuentes de los Caños, monumental fountains dated in 1614, and behind we will find the old laundries. It is the place where the Gaià River is born, and it is also the beginning of the well-known Route of the Mills, a route that reveals different elements related to the use of water such as the lock, the aqueduct, flour mills or the ice well. In addition, Santa Coloma still conserves four portals that closed the city in medieval times (Portal of Santa Coloma, Portal del Vicario, Portal de Martín, Portal de Cervera), the Carlania residence of the Castilians who had entrusted the government and defense of the population, the Plaza Mayor and its wrought iron balconies and the Plaza del Portalet.