Baix Penedès

Baix Penedès is a comarca in Catalonia, Spain. The area has been settled since the times of the Iberians, with ancient ruins remaining in Banyeres at Can Canyís, in the capital el Vendrell at the village of Guàrdies and in Calafell at the villages of Toixoneres and la Ciutadella ("The Citadel").

Municipalities

Castellers

Baix Penedès has one of the longest-lived traditions of castellers in Catalonia. (Castellers practice the traditional Catalan art/sport of making human pyramids.) The comarcal capital, el Vendrell, has a monument dedicated to castellers.

The most important competitions of Castellers in the comarca occur each year as part of the August festival in honor of the Virgin Mary at Bisbal and on the fourth Sunday of August at L'Arboç, with castellers from all over Catalonia.

People from Baix Penedès

Among the most important historical figures from Baix Penedès are:

Baix

Baix is a French commune in the Ardèche department in the Rhône-Alpes region of southern France.

The inhabitants of the commune are known as Baixois or Baixoises.

Geography

Baix is located some 30 km south by south-west of Valence and 25 km north-east of Aubenas. Access to the commune is by the D86 road from Le Pouzin in the north which passes through the commune and the town and continues south to Cruas. The D22 branches off the D86 just inside the northern border of the commune and goes west to Chomérac. The commune is mostly forested but with farmland in the north-western third of the commune.

The Rhône river forms the eastern border of the commune and the department as it flows south however there is no crossing point in the commune. The nearest crossing point is at Le Pouzin 5 km north. Numerous streams rise in the commune and flow east to the Rhone including La Payre, the Ravin de Roux, the Ravin de Saint-Pierre, the Ruisseau de Notre-Dame, the Ravin de Besset, the Ruisseau de Cournairet, the Ruisseau de Sainte-Euphémie, with the Ruisseau de Sichier forming the southern border of the commune.

Penedès

Penedès (Catalan pronunciation: [pənəˈðɛs]) is a natural and historical region of the autonomous community of Catalonia, Spain. It is located in the south of the Principality of Catalonia between the pre-coastal mountain range (Serralada Pre-litoral) and the Mediterranean sea. The comarcal division of the Generalitat de Catalunya in 1936 and 1987, divided Penedès into three administrative comarques: Alt Penedès, Baix Penedès and Garraf, and their capitals are Vilafranca del Penedès, el Vendrell and Vilanova i la Geltrú.

From the historical point of view, Penedès was since the start of the ninth century a border region inside the county of Barcelona, which had its center in the former military town Olèrdola, fortified again because of the Christian advance in 929. Olèrdola lost its defensive significance and the capital in the second half of the twelfth century and then Vilafranca del Penedès became the capital. During the thirteenth century formed the Vegueria of Vilafranca including all Penedès and most of Anoia as the sots-vegueria of Igualada.

Penedès (DO)

Penedès (Catalan pronunciation: [pənəˈðɛs]) is a Spanish Denominación de Origen, DO (Catalan: Denominació d'Origen), for wines in Catalonia (Spain). Penedès DO includes all Penedès region and municipalities of four other counties: Anoia, Alt Camp, Baix Llobregat and Tarragonès. The area is framed by the coastal hills of the Garraf Massif and the higher inland mountains which skirt the Central Depression.

Long considered one of the country's best wine-producing regions after the Rioja, it is also one of the most ancient viticultural areas in Europe. Perhaps better-known for its cava production (a sparkling wine which has had its own Denominación de Origen since 1991) white grape varieties predominate, although the region also produces some highly regarded, oak-aged reds.

Geography

The Denominació d'Origen Penedès is centred in the regional capital, Vilafranca del Penedès, with nearby Sant Sadurní d'Anoia the acknowledged centre of Cava production. Besides these two, the principal towns are Vilanova i la Geltrú, Sitges and el Vendrell. The Penedès denominación includes 66 municipalities.