Ripoll () is the capital 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 ...

'' of

Ripollès Ripollès (; ) is a Comarques of Catalonia, comarca (county) in the Comarques Gironines, Girona region, Catalonia, Spain. It is located in the Vall de Ribes, Ribes and Camprodon river valleys. In 2001, its population was 25,744, about 40% of whom ...

, in the

province of Girona The Province of Girona ( ; ) is a Provinces of Spain, province in the northeastern part of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Catalonia, Spain. It is bordered on the northwest by the province of Lleida, on the southwest ...

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. It is located on confluence of the

Ter Ter or TER may refer to: Places * River Ter, in Essex, England * Ter (river), in Catalonia * Ter (department), a region in France * Torre (river), (Slovene: ''Ter''), a river in Italy * Ter, Ljubno, a settlement in the Municipality of Ljubno ob ...

river and its tributary Freser, next to the

Pyrenees The Pyrenees are a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. They extend nearly from their union with the Cantabrian Mountains to Cap de Creus on the Mediterranean coast, reaching a maximum elevation of at the peak of Aneto. ...

near the border of France. The population was 11,057 in 2009.

History

left, ''Dovella de Ripoll '' Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya The first traces of humans inhabiting the area date from the

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

and can be seen in form of

dolmen A dolmen, () or portal tomb, is a type of single-chamber Megalith#Tombs, megalithic tomb, usually consisting of two or more upright megaliths supporting a large flat horizontal capstone or "table". Most date from the Late Neolithic period (4000 ...

s such as those found in ''El Sot de Dones Mortes'' or in ''Pardinella''. This area was later used by peoples from the Atlantic culture to store bronze weapons and as a passway from the Catalan Central Depression to the

. The area also has tombs from the late

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

occupation age and some belonging to the

Visigoths The Visigoths (; ) were a Germanic people united under the rule of a king and living within the Roman Empire during late antiquity. The Visigoths first appeared in the Balkans, as a Roman-allied Barbarian kingdoms, barbarian military group unite ...

. It has a famous

Benedictine The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...

monastery built in the Romanesque style,

Santa Maria de Ripoll The Monastery of Santa Maria de Ripoll is a Benedictine monastery, built in the Romanesque style, located in the town of Ripoll in Catalonia, Spain. Although much of the present church is 19th century rebuilding, the sculptured portico is a renown ...

, founded by the count

Wilfred the Hairy {{Infobox noble, type , name = Wilfred , title = Count of Barcelona , image = , image_size = , caption = , alt = , CoA = , more = no , su ...

in 879. The count used it as a centre to repopulate the region after conquering it. In the

High Middle Ages The High Middle Ages, or High Medieval Period, was the periodization, period of European history between and ; it was preceded by the Early Middle Ages and followed by the Late Middle Ages, which ended according to historiographical convention ...

, its castle, the

Castle of Saguardia A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

, located in the county of Les Llosses was ruled by the Saguàrdia family, of which

Ponç de la Guàrdia Ponç de la Guàrdia (or Pons de la Guardia; floruit, fl. 1154–1188) was a Catalan knight of the family of Saguàrdia, lords of the castle of Ripoll. He was not a professional jongleur, but a troubadour who wrote songs for amusement which were muc ...

was a famous

troubadour A troubadour (, ; ) was a composer and performer of Old Occitan lyric poetry during the High Middle Ages (1100–1350). Since the word ''troubadour'' is etymologically masculine, a female equivalent is usually called a ''trobairitz''. The tr ...

. An abundance of coal and iron ore, coupled with the ample water supply of the rivers Ter and Freser, encouraged a metal-working industry in the early Middle Ages. The furnaces of Ripoll were a prime source of nails for the peninsula. Later, pole arms and crossbows, always in demand, were added to Ripoll's exports. Ripoll enjoyed a reputation throughout Europe for the production of firearms. That success as a manufactory of firearms brought frequent trouble to the city. French invasions in 1794, 1809, 1812, and 1813 crippled the city industries. However, the final and utter destruction of Ripoll, resulting from mines and blasting, occurred in 1839 during the

Carlist Wars The Carlist Wars (, ) were a series of civil wars that took place in Spain during the 19th century. The contenders fought over claims to the throne, although some political differences also existed. Several times during the period from 1833 to 1 ...

. Due to the loss of records and archives, not much is known of Ripoll and its industry to this day.

Climate

Ripoll has a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

: ''Cfa'') bordering on an

oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate or maritime climate, is the temperate climate sub-type in Köppen climate classification, Köppen classification represented as ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of co ...

(Köppen: ''Cfb'') with cool winters and warm to hot summers. As in many areas of the

, rainfall is well distributed throughout the year. During the winter, temperatures below are common, although there may be some winters in which they do not occur.

Demographics

Ripoll is over 5% Muslim, predominately of Moroccan origin, who arrived in the 1990s to work in industrial factories.

Famous citizens

Eudald Domènech i Riera Eudald Domènech Riera, (Ripoll, 1962), is a Spanish businessman linked to new technologies and the Internet, considered "the first businessman in Spain on the Internet." He was the founder of Servicom, the first private company to offer internet ...

References

External links