The Farners Castle

Coordinates: 41.8603400000, 2.6310900000 (map)

The first mention of the Farners castle (Castell de Farners) dates all the way back to the mid-9th century. Archived documents detail as follows: Ramon Berenguer the First, Count of Barcelona and Girona, hands over the building into the fiefdom of Viscount Ramon Folc of Cardona, while he, in his turn, dedicates the management of the property to another Ramon, this time Ramon Farners, as the representative of the family whose name now lives on both in the title of the castle and the town nearby (Santa Coloma de Farners).

The fortress occupies about 200 square metres of the peak Turó del Vent in the vicinity of Santa Coloma. One watchtower inside the fortification walls especially stands out, measuring 12 metres tall, 8.40 metres in diameter, and with an entrance 7 metres above ground.

The Farners castle was built specifically for defence purposes but has seen very little warring action due to its location away from the key combat routes and therefore very low strategic combat value. Unlike many other fortresses that constantly changed hands over the centuries, Farners counts only a few instances of being controlled by strangers: in 1485 and 1489 local revolting peasants occupied it for a bit, plus at the beginning of the 18th century a French garrison was stationed here post-War of the Spanish Succession.

The Farners castle made the revered list of national cultural heritage objects in 1949. Visiting the castle is absolutely free.