Piera () is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

that covers a large portion of the southeastern corner of the

comarca A ''comarca'' (, , , ) is a traditional region or local administrative division found in Portugal, Spain, and some of their former colonies, like Brazil, Nicaragua, and Panama. The term is derived from the term ''marca'', meaning a "march, mark ...

Anoia Anoia () is a comarca (county) in central Catalonia, Spain, with its capital at Igualada. It is mainly located in the Penedès region, with its northern section being in Central Catalonia. The comarca of Anoia is irrigated by the Anoia River; ...

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

, Spain, on the left bank of the Anoia river. The agricultural land, mostly non-irrigated, is used for the cultivation of

cereal A cereal is a grass cultivated for its edible grain. Cereals are the world's largest crops, and are therefore staple foods. They include rice, wheat, rye, oats, barley, millet, and maize ( Corn). Edible grains from other plant families, ...

grape A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry, of the deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus ''Vitis''. Grapes are a non- climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters. The cultivation of grapes began approximately 8,0 ...

olive The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'' ("European olive"), is a species of Subtropics, subtropical evergreen tree in the Family (biology), family Oleaceae. Originating in Anatolia, Asia Minor, it is abundant throughout the Mediterranean ...

s and

almond The almond (''Prunus amygdalus'', Synonym (taxonomy)#Botany, syn. ''Prunus dulcis'') is a species of tree from the genus ''Prunus''. Along with the peach, it is classified in the subgenus ''Amygdalus'', distinguished from the other subgenera ...

s. The town itself hosts a number of light industries:

textile Textile is an Hyponymy and hypernymy, umbrella term that includes various Fiber, fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, Staple (textiles)#Filament fiber, filaments, Thread (yarn), threads, and different types of #Fabric, fabric. ...

plastic Plastics are a wide range of synthetic polymers, synthetic or Semisynthesis, semisynthetic materials composed primarily of Polymer, polymers. Their defining characteristic, Plasticity (physics), plasticity, allows them to be Injection moulding ...

s and construction materials. Tourism during the summer months is also relatively important for the local economy. The FGC railway line R6 from

Martorell Martorell () is a municipality, county, and city that forms part of the Baix Llobregat Comarques of Catalonia, comarca, in Catalonia, Spain, primarily known for its medieval Pont del Diable, Devil's bridge. It lies at the confluence of the Llobr ...

and

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

Igualada Igualada () is a municipality and capital of Anoia county in Penedès, Catalonia, Spain. It is located on the left bank of the Anoia River and at the western end of the Igualada-Martorell-Barcelona Railway. Igualada is the capital and central ...

runs through the town, while local roads lead to Capellades and Sant Sadurní d'Anoia. Notable monuments include the castle of Fontanet. The castle which was restored in 1916 by Ramon de Viala d'Aiguavives, Baron of Almenar is documented in 955 a.c. and now used for private functions. The sister of the Baron of Almenar, Isabel de Viala d'Aiguavives also financed and patroned the modernist church of Ca n'Aguilera which was donated to Barcelona's Bishop by Zaragoza de Viala family in 1921. The architect of Ca N'Aguilera modernist church is Francesc Berenguer i Mestres, who was Antoni Gaudi's disciple and personal friend. Another Piera relevant monument is the church of Santa Maria, with both Gothic and Roman elements.

Subdivisions

The municipality of Piera includes several outlying villages (''barris''): these are usually distinguished into the older, traditional settlements (''barris antics'') and the newer urbanisations which have been developed to cope with the expansion of the municipality (''barris nous'').

Population Population is a set of humans or other organisms in a given region or area. Governments conduct a census to quantify the resident population size within a given jurisdiction. The term is also applied to non-human animals, microorganisms, and pl ...

s are given for 1999, from the Ajuntament de Piera and cited in ''Història de Piera'': the town of Piera (''nucli urbà'') had a population of 5,036 at that date, whereas the total population of the municipality was 8,551.

Traditional ''barris''

*El Bedorc (237), on the Anoia river * Ca n'Aguilera (161) *Can Cairot (28) *Can Creixell (2) *La Fortesa (57), on the Anoia river at the southern point of the municipality *Sant Jaume Sesoliveres (213)

Newer ''barris''

*Bosc de l'Àliga (88) *Can Bonastre (490) *Can Bou (93) *Can Canals (602) *Can Claramunt (494) *Can Martí (222) *Can Mas (427) *Can Mata (166) *Castell de la Ventosa (51) *La Grua (20) *Vallbonica (26), on the road to Vallbona d'Anoia *La Venta i Can Musarro (138)

Demography

Twin towns

Piera is twinned with: * Estepa, Spain

Transportation

Train line connecting Igualada with Barcelona has a stop for boarding on both ways of the line.

Independence declaration

On 30 October 2012, Piera proclaimed itself as a Free Catalan Territory.

References

*Panareda Clopés, Josep Maria; Rios Calvet, Jaume; Rabella Vives, Josep Maria (1989). "Guia de Catalunya", Barcelona: Caixa de Catalunya. . .

External links

*
Government data pages
{{Authority control Municipalities in Anoia