Santa Maria d'Oló

Santa Maria d'Oló, to the north of Moianès, is surrounded by a spectacular landscape of fields and forests. The primitive nucleus of the town is settled at a height of 542 meters. This nucleus was formed on top of the hill around the old castle and the church of Santa Maria, and today it has extended and includes the suburbs of La Rovirola and Santa Eulàlia.

The first references to Oló appear in a totally occasional way in two documents that talk about the endowment of the cathedral of Vic, in the years 889 and 890. Until the middle of the 10th century, the term of Oló was located within the county of Osona, and half a century ahead, it is already in the county of Manresa.

Documents from 1931 have been preserved that refer to the castle of Oló, a medieval construction from the 12th or 13th centuries, built on the top of the 546 m hill. altitude, around which the first population center of Santa Maria d'Oló originated.

A Romanesque church was built next to the castle of Oló built on top of the hill and, most likely, houses began to be built in the sagrera of the church, protected by the castle, insinuating what the town of Oló would be centuries after.

In the 17th and 18th centuries there is a demographic growth of Santa Maria d'Oló, which is explained by the development of textile activities related to wool and its protagonists: pelaires and weavers.

Dotted with small Romanesque-style churches and hermitages, Santa Maria d'Oló offers a peaceful walk to reunite. The stone huts are the legacy of a deep rural tradition, fundamentally linked to the wool and vineyard economy until the phylloxera crisis.

The modernist heritage stands out (with works by Puig i Cadafalc, Eduard Balcells or Ignasi Mas Morell) and the baroque legacy, such as the altarpiece that is preserved in perfect condition in the church above the town or in Sant Joan d'Oló where Three magnificent Baroque altarpieces have been preserved, a unique set of great beauty.