Castle of Cardona
CASTLE AND COLLEGIATE CHURCH OF SANT VICENÇ
From the 9th century, the castle and collegiate church of Sant Vicenç (Saint Vincent) dominated the territory and controlled the salt mines. Military strategy and religious cult joined on top of the hill. The castle was raised in 886 under the orders of Wilfred the Hairy, count of Barcelona. The keep is all that remains from this period, known as Torre de la Minyona (Tower of the Maid). During the first half of the 11th century, the church of Sant Vicenç was built, one of the best displays of the Catalan Lombard Romanesque.
Between the 11th and 15th centuries the castle was the residence of the rich lords of the salt, a great example of medieval military fortification which, with time, lost its residential function and gained strategic importance. From the 17th century onwards, the fortress updated its defence system with a crown of bastions. It was during the War of Spanish Succession that it became a symbol of the resistance of the followers of archduke Charles in front of the defenders of Philip of Anjou: the castle was the last fortress to yield to the Bourbon troops and it fell after the surrender of Barcelona, on the 18th of September 1714.
ALTARPIECE AND PULPIT FALL OF THE CHAPEL OF SANT RAMON NONAT
In 1681, after a plague epidemic in Catalonia, the duchess Catherine of Cardona ordered the founding of the Chapel of Sant Ramon Nonat (Saint Raymond Nonnatus), which was to be erected at the place where, according to tradition, the saint had died in 1240, with an altar, an altarpiece and a silver oil lamp. The Baroque altarpiece, of polychromatic and gilded wood, was made by the sculptor from Manresa Pau Sunyer and it was gilded by local silversmith Magí Torrabruna.
The ensemble of relieves, eight scenes, represent different moments of the life of the saint and the pulpit fall contains the coat of arms of the Cardona. Both have been recently restored at the Centre de Restauració de Béns Mobles de Catalunya (Centre for the Restoration of Artefacts of Catalonia).
