Cardona

Cardona is a town ìn Catalonia, Spain, in the province of Barcelona; about 90 km (56 mi) northwest of the city of Barcelona, on a hill almost surrounded by the river Cardoner, a branch of the Llobregat. To the east of the town, the river has been diverted through a tunnel has been dug through a spur, leaving a loop of dry river bed near the saltmine.

Near the town is an extensive deposit of rock salt. The salt forms a mountain mass (called Muntanya de Sal) covered by a thick bed of a reddish-brown clay, and apparently resting on a yellowish-grey sandstone. It is generally more or less translucent, and large masses of it are quite transparent. The hill has been worked like a mine since Roman times; pieces cut from it have been carved by artists in Cardona into images, crucifixes and many articles of an ornamental kind.

Main sights

• The Castle of Cardona, which is set high on a hill and contains a Parador hotel.
• The 14th-century Romanesque Church of St. Vincenç.
• The Church of Sant Miquel, built in the 11th century and rebuilt in the 14th century in Gothic style. It houses a precious polyptych by Pere Vall, depicting St. Anne, the Virgin and St. Amador, and a 15th-century baptismal font.

Local festivals

• Caramelles: The Sunday of Passover
• Mercat de la ganga: The first Sunday of February
• Fira de Pentecostés: The first Sunday of June
• Fira de la Llenega: The last Sunday of October
• Festa Major: The second last weekend in September
• Aplec de Cardona: 18 September
• Oktoberfest