 |
At the nucleus of Torre-ramona there is the church of Fant Joan sesrovires, parrish since 1930. The firt sure document which mentiones it dates back to the year 1325. When the parrish of the Castle was restored, it had lost this privilege and nowadays it remains closed almost the whole year.
It is a church of a rectangular ground plan, the absis in the east, with a later attached wall to the south. The absis is semiclircular, flat and a little bit raised, whith a viewing window at the middle. The front door faces west (and nowadays the door is blocked), a bullseye and a “espardanya” bell tower. The door nowadays is facing north, it is a half-point, with stones and very simple. The bell tower has two “eyes”, with a half-point arch.
At the wall facing south there are two walls of a pure romanic style, of double “esqueixada”, made with not very worked “carreus” and key-stoned half-point arch. At the north wall there is a window, but it is later.
La Torre Ramona
At the neighbourhood of Torre-ramona, which it gives name. It is one of the few rural palaces of the sixteenth century that are known at the Penedès. The Torre Ramona, which was built, according to what states its shield, by the family Gralla, which ruled the Castle and the region in the sixteenth century; later, the Torre Ramona was owned by other people, the most known family of which was the Ramono in the sixteenth century.
It is a beautiful palace, at the bottom of the Castell de Subirats, near the joint of the river Anoia and the Lavernó creek, located un top of a little hill, dominating the view of the Camí Ral. It was provably constructed on top o the place where another buiding exixted, smaller and simpler, used as residence, at least since the mid-sixteenth century. We know that the 20th of august 1404, the King Martí I slept at the house of Sant Joan de Subirats, on the way to Martorell.
It is gotic-renaissance, built in the sixteenth century, possibly later the 1527; used as a rural residence of the Gralla family. It has a square external ground plan and each side is 25 m long, it is composed of low floor, noble floor and and attic, all covered by Arabian tiles at four slopes. The crowning of the building is surrounded by a typical catalan rural row not so large. Central courtyard with a rectangular shape with a well of drinkable water in the middle.
The main façade is facing the Castell de Subirats, tha is south; it is austere, but elegant. In the middle the great half-point-arch keystone door, with loopholes at each side; on top o it, a Renaissance window, with a loophole at each side along with it, at the same level, that is, three in total. At the second foor, above the main window there is a “matacà”, well conseved, made out of very polished stone. This façade is completed with four windows, two at the low floor and two at the attic.
The windows in the first floor and one at the low floor have mouldings against rain with decorated brackets. Rests of a sun clock.
The most monumental façade is the one facing west. In total of the three floors, there are seven windows, all of them well worked. At the east wall, a tower semi-detached at the same height as the rectangular ground plan building, without any ornamentation of interest.
At the interior courtyard, a well-polished stone segmental arch, of great dimensions. Two vertical presses of wine. To the left, a door made out of stone which communicates with the cellar, from which a mine in a perfect state comes out which is cut, approximately, arround the church of Sant Joan Sesrovires. At the same side, a little stone stairway which communicates with a moulding door. Renaissance window with brackets decorated with winged-agel heads. It was the room of the Guard and servants of the palace. To the right of the courtyard, the main entrance. Segmental arch. Great stairway with lombards till the noble floor. At the first floor, two epoch windows: the one to the west, with golden brackets with fabulous animals, an the one to the south, with winged angels.
The building is surrounded, except for the back part, by a courtyard, which is closed by a bastion, limited by houses at each side, some of them with interesting architectural elements.
With no dout, it is the most interesting rural noble building in the Penedès, and provably the only one with these characteristics and construction time, which makes this palace the most precious work, not only in Subirats, but in the whole Penedès, for which it deserves being respected.
During the las armed encounter which the contry suffered, it was completely seized, the furniture and documentation of great interest disappeared.
|