Sant Feliu de Llobregat

Paleolithic remains found in the Can Albareda area show a prehistoric human presence. Iberian and Roman traces remain, for instance in the town square.

In Roman times and during part of the Middle Ages, the place was called Titian and Micano Tiano. The name Sant Feliu does not appear until 1002 in a document in the monastery of Sant Cugat del Vallès. The name originally applied to a chapel dedicated to Saint Feliu (Catalan for Felix). The church of Sant Llorenç (Catalan for Lawrence) was built in 1524 (destroyed in the Civil War and since rebuilt). Until then, Sant Feliu depended on the parishes of Sant Just Desvern and Sant Joan Despí.

In the seventeenth century, Jaime Falguera built a palace in the town, with extensive grounds stretching to the river Llobregat. Until recently the property remained in the family of the Marquis of Castellbell, noble descendants of Falguera, and the palace was used into the twentieth century. Today the municipality owns the palace and what is left of the gardens. The National Rose Show is held there each May. The stables preserve a carriage of the Castellbell family.

In 1855 a railway line was built linking Barcelona and Vilafranca with a station at Sant Feliu. The town market was built in 1885.

Steam-driven textile factories came early to the town: Bertrand (1861) and Solà and Sert (1893) are the most important firms today. But the heavy industrialisation of the town and its region came with the twentieth century introduction of electricity.

Rose growing has been an important industry in Sant Feliu since the beginning of the twentieth century.

King Alfonso XIII made Sant Feliu a city in 1929 and in 1936 it became the capital of Baix Llobregat.

During the Civil War place names with monarchist or religious meaning were removed. The people of Sant Feliu became "Roses del Llobregat" in acknowledgement of the history of rose growing in the area by such families as Dot and Camprubí. Nationalist forces occupied the Barcelona area in February 1939.

In 1948 the Falange set up San Feliu Youth Radio, which despite its origins came to enjoy a certain independence. After a brief crisis it reopened in 1981 as Ràdio Sant Feliu.

In 1999 a new Dot and Camprubí Rose Garden was planted to celebrate the work of Pedro Dot and other Spanish rose breeders. It has 20,000 roses and more than 400 varieties.

In 2005, Pope John Paul II appointed the Archbishop of Barcelona metropolitan of the province and separated off two new dioceses, making Sant Feliu a bishopric and Sant Llorenç a cathedral.

Patrimonio:

Fiestas:

Fiesta mayor el 10 de agosto, San Lorenzo, patrono de la ciudad.

Fiesta del otoño (o fiesta mayor pequeña, actualmente convertida en la fiesta principal) el 12 de octubre, copatrón San Rarimio, arzobispo y mártir de Cáller, Cerdeña.

Fiesta de la primavera segundo fin de semana de mayo. Donde se realiza la Exposición Nacional de Rosas y la Feria Comercial e Industrial del Bajo Llobregat.

Mercadillo semanal: Lunes, de 09:00 a 15:00 · Carrer de Sant Josep

•Ruta de la Torrassa (PR-C 161, 15 km)

•Collserola des de Sant Just (PR-C 164, 12.5 km)

•Sant Feliu de Llobregat a Molins de Rei (PR-C 165, 21 km)

•Camí de Sant Jaume (l'Hospitalet - Tàrrega)

•PR-C 171 Barcelona (Parc de Cervantes) - Barcelona (Trinitat Nova) (PR-C 171, 19.6 km)

•Accés al Parc Agrari i riu Llobregat

•Agricultura al Delta del Llobregat (7.6 km)

•Del solell a l'obaga. Collserola (11.4 km)

•Els dos castells. De Sant Feliu al Papiol per Molins de Rei (26.9 km)

•Camí Ral de Barcelona a Vilafranca (CR-BV)

•Sant Just Desvern.Molins de Rei per SantaCreu d'Olorda (10 km)

•El Camí IT3TR2 El Camí Metropolità: de Montserrat a Barcelona (CC-C)

•Juan Carlos Navarro, baloncestista español

•Jordi Hurtado, doblador y presentador de radio y televisión español

•Enriqueta Martí, asesina en serie española

•Josep Pascó, artista español (1855-1910)

•Juan José Estella, futbolista español

•Sergio Ayala, futbolista español

Alcaldía: Lourdes Borrell

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