Vilafranca del Penedès

Population 38,000 inhabitants.Capital of Alt Penedes. The town dates from the twelfth century. It was built on a spot near the Via Augusta as a medieval town and became one of the most important towns of the Principality.

It was a typical medieval ‘cité’ with its perimeter of ramparts, the corporations, its nobility and its Jewish quarter. The basilica of Santa Maria, built in a gothic style with its spire, whose bells started to ring at the beginning of the 14th century, became the principal symbol of the town.