Guissona

The first settlement known is the Iberian town of Iesso dating back to the early Iron Age (8th-9th century BC). Iesso was located in the Northern area of the present town (Plaça del Vell Pla). The coinage minted by the Iberian settlement, of which a few examples are found within the Iberian coin collection of the British Museum, include an unidentified Male head, to the right and to left a club and an inscription. The reverse depicts a Horseman with a palm to the right and an Iberian inscription reading ieso below. These date from the late 2nd to the early 1st century BC.

The Romans conquered Iesso to transform it into a municipality. The town is mentioned by the Roman authors Pliny the Elder and Ptolemy. During that period a defensive wall was built that surrounded a more extensive surface than the present historic center. The remains of the Roman period are numerous, notably, the Roman thermae of the city. The archeological site includes the water supply of the actual Medieval enclosure, the wells of the public fountain, a number of headstones (e.g., the gravestone of Servilla Praepusa (2nd-3rd century AD), a sculpture of a Roman horseman, and the necropolis located in the area of Cal Mines.

Guissona probably housed the episcopal see until it was moved to La Seu d'Urgell as a consequence of the Muslim invasion of the area. In 975 AD the Christian Borrell II, Count of Barcelona conquered the town, although the Caliphate of Córdoba would conquer it back in 1015. By 1024, Guissona was recaptured and a rechristianization was instituted by Ermengol, bishop of Urgell.

In 1072, the Count Ermengol IV of Urgell started the construction of a Romanesque church named Església de Santa Maria de Guissona (Church of Saint Mary of Guissona). Several centuries later, the church was knocked down to build the new church. The construction of the church extended along the 17th and 18th centuries, the opening ceremony was in 1800. The final work would be a mixture of different phases of Baroque (altars, organ, choir stalls) and Neoclassical styles. During the Spanish Civil War, the organ and all the retables were destroyed.

In 1505, the construction started of Obra de Fluvià (or alternatively called Obra de santa Llúcia) in an estate previously acquired by the Bishop of Urgell, a building planned to be a residence for the Bishop. In 1514, the works were interrupted. Its remains are located a kilometre away to the northeast, near the confluence of the Fluvià River and its tributary, the Sió River. The remaining architectonic elements were made in a late Gothic style. The building was constructed on a squared floor plan with a central courtyard. The Diocese of Urgell also founded an Augustinian monastery, transformed into a secular collegiate church in the 15th century.

On 12 June 1837, there was a battle near the town fought by Carlist forces against the "Liberals" during the First Carlist War. The Carlist army commanded by the Infante Sebastian of Portugal and Spain was defeated by the Baron of Meer, general-in-chief of the military region of Catalonia. The Carlist army had previously left Navarre with the Carlist pretender of the crown, Carlos María Isidro de Borbón (the "Royal Expedition").

Restos de la muralla medieval, incluida una de las puertas de acceso.

Plaza Mayor porticada.

Iglesia de Santa María, con elementos barrocos y neoclásicos.

Museo municipal, con importantes colecciones de arqueología, cerámica, pintura, escultura y numismática, reflejo del importante pasado histórico de la población.

En las afueras del núcleo urbano se hallan las ruinas del palacio episcopal inacabado del siglo XVI conocido como “Obra de Fluvià”.

•Pou de Gel

•Ciutat romana de Iesso

•Museu Eduard Camps

Mercadillo semanal: Jueves, de 09:00 a 15:00 · Avinguda del Notari Don Josep Faus

•Aubaga-solana. Espai d'Interés Natural Protegit de la Vall del Riu Llobregós (12 km)

•Ruta dels Romans. La Segarra (12.4 km)

•Via verda de Guissona

•El Camí IT2TR3 El Camí de Ponent: de Balaguer a Montserrat (CC-C)

•Pedro Fages, explorador español

•Jaume Pujol Balcells, arzobispo catalán

•Joaquín Oliva, futbolista español

•El Petit de Cal Eril, músico catalán

•Jordi Pàmias i Grau, poeta y escritor español

•Josep Barbany i Mingot

Alcaldía: Jaume Ars i Bosch

Web oficial: http://www.guissona.cat/

4 paradas de autobús en el municipio:

•Guissona

•Guissona (pl. Vell Pla/av. 11 de setembre) (A)

•Guissona (pl. de la Plana, 6)

•Guissona (c. dels Castanyers, 11)

•Farmacia Farmàcia Rosa Cinca — Avinguda de la Generalitat de Catalunya 45

•Farmacia Farmàcia Pujol — Carrer Fluvià 16

•Centre d'Atenció Primaria de Guissona — Rambla dels Segadors 57

•Farmacia Farmàcia de la Plana — Plaça de la Plana 1