Category: Modern

  • Carrer de la Creu (Cross Street), Original Nucleus of the Medieval Town

    In the northwest corner of the town , two streets that cross at right angles are preserved, marking the space occupied by the original nucleus of the town, founded in the 11th  century. In the documents, they are mentioned with the shared name of Carrer  de la Creu (Cross Street). This type of town  organised around two streets at right angles was very common in the 10th-11th  centuries, not only in Catalan territory but also in other countries, such as the area of present-day Italy, for example.

    The town probably  arose in parallel with  the renovation  of the monastery and the construction of a new church. The monastery not only needed labour  for these works but also required people to work the lands, exploit the riches of the sea, and pay taxes; hence the interest in favouring  the creation of a town. There are indications that the town had walls, with square towers, but for the moment, we do not have any archaeological proof of this.

    Hardly anything  remains of its original houses, which have been extensively remodelled   over time. The structure that can be seen corresponds mainly to its final appearance, significantly  rebuilt in the 16th  century.

    1 Image of the northwest section of the town, indicating the Carrer de la Creu. .
    Source: CRAPA.
    2 Location of the original nucleus of the town, with the possible walls and the monastery.
    Source: Biblioteca Virtual Defensa-CRAPA.
    3 Beneath the medieval walls, the excavations uncovered older structures (5th–7th centuries).
    Source: CRAPA.