Terrassa (, es, Tarrasa) is a city in the east central region of

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a '' nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the no ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' ( Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

, in the

province of Barcelona Barcelona (, ) is a province of eastern Spain, in the center of the autonomous community of Catalonia. The province is bordered by the provinces of Tarragona, Lleida, and Girona, and by the Mediterranean Sea. Its area is .comarca A ''comarca'' (, or , or ) 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 " ...

'' of

Vallès Occidental Vallès Occidental () is a comarca (county) in Catalonia, Spain. Sabadell and Terrassa are the comarcal capitals. Along with Vallès Oriental it forms the grand comarca of Vallès, and is part of the Barcelona metropolitan area. Physical geo ...

, of which it is the co-capital along with

Sabadell Sabadell () is a city in Catalonia, Spain. It is in the south of the ''comarca'' of Vallès Occidental and its joint capital (co-capital), on the River Ripoll, north of Barcelona. Sabadell is located above sea level. Sabadell pioneered the In ...

. The name ''Terrassa'' derives from

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power ...

''Terracia'', either from earlier ''Terracium castellum'' (“earthen castle”), or meaning "terrace", "area of flat land". It is the site of Roman Egara, a former Visigothic bishopric, which became a Latin Catholic

titular see A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular metropolitan" (highest rank), "titular archbis ...

. Since 2004, it is again the see of a

bishopric In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...

. The city is located in the Catalan Prelitoral depression (Depressió Prelitoral), at the feet of the Prelitoral mountain range (Natural reserve of Sant Llorenç del Munt) and the average altitude of the city is 277 meters above sea level. It is 20 and 18 kilometres from

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern 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 ...

and Montserrat respectively. Terrassa is the third largest city in the province of Barcelona, after Barcelona and L’Hospitalet.

History

The remains that have been found indicate that the area where Terrassa stands has been inhabited since prehistory. In 2005, during the construction of a tunnel for one of the city's railway lines, a prehistoric site was found in

Vallparadís Park Vallparadís Park (in Catalan and officially ''Parc de Vallparadís'')The translation would correspond to the term "Valleparaíso", in reference to the first settlers who found the waters of the confluence of the torrents and fertile lands. is a ...

, with stone tools and fossils of hunted animals dating back 800,000 to 1,000,000 years, making this one of the oldest prehistoric sites in Europe. Terrassa originated as the Roman town of ''Egara'' (''Municipium Flavium Egara''), which was founded during the time of the emperor

Vespasian Vespasian (; la, Vespasianus ; 17 November AD 9 – 23/24 June 79) was a Roman emperor who reigned from AD 69 to 79. The fourth and last emperor who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors, he founded the Flavian dynasty that ruled the Em ...

(69–79 CE), alongside the torrent of Vallparadís (nowadays an urban park) close to the Iberian town of ''Egosa'', on the site of which some ceramics and coins have been found. In the 17th century it was the sight of the Terrasa witchtrials, where 6 women were arrested, tortured and convicted of witchcraft. Five of them were hanged on 27 October 1619 near a present-day railway bridge. Other important remains from the Middle Ages are the former cathedral, the castle of Vallparadís (from 1344 to 1413 a

Carthusian The Carthusians, also known as the Order of Carthusians ( la, Ordo Cartusiensis), are a Latin enclosed religious order of the Catholic Church. The order was founded by Bruno of Cologne in 1084 and includes both monks and nuns. The order has ...

monastery and today a municipal museum) and the tower of the castle-palace of the count-king. In the 19th century the city played an important role in the industrial revolution, specializing in woollen fabrics, and today there is a major '' Modernista'' legacy as a result of the city's importance at that time. Particularly notable ''Modernista'' buildings include the Masia Freixa (1907), the Vapor Aymerich, Amat i Jover

textile mill Textile Manufacturing or Textile Engineering is a major industry. It is largely based on the conversion of fibre into yarn, then yarn into fabric. These are then dyed or printed, fabricated into cloth which is then converted into useful go ...

(1907) (now the Museum of Science and Industry of Catalonia), the Principal theater (1920), the city hall (1902), the Alegre de Sagrera house/museum (1911), the Industrial School (1904), the Gran Casino (1920), the Parc de Desinfecció (1920), and the Independència market (1908). Terrassa is a partner city of the Art nouveau network, a European network of co-operation created in 1999 for the study, preservation and development of

Art Nouveau Art Nouveau (; ) is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. The style is known by different names in different languages: in German, in Italian, in Catalan, and also known as the Moder ...

Catastrophes

On 25 September 1962, after a long dry season, between 212 and 252 litres of rain per square metre fell in three hours. It caused the rivers

Llobregat The Llobregat () is the second longest river in Catalonia, Spain, after the Ter. It flows into the Mediterranean south of the city of Barcelona. Its name could have originated in an ancient Latin word meaning 'dark', 'sorrowful' or 'muddy', or ...

and Besòs and their tributaries to overflow, creating a water avenue that caused 700 victims and heavy material losses. The

comarca A ''comarca'' (, or , or ) 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 " ...

'' was the most damaged. In particularly Terrassa, with 327 victims. The reason of these numbers was that building was permitted around two dry streams used to bring rain water to the

river. They met in a wedge shape and were not properly

channelized Channelized in a telecommunications environment means that the line that communications have been transmitted over contains more than one message thread, separated in some fashion. Typical channelization methods include packetizing, frequency-d ...

. When the streams overflowed it created what was called "the dead triangle", with more than a hundred victims only in the Ègara neighbourhood.

Ecclesiastical history

The episcopal see of Ègara already existed by about 450 CE, when it was established on territory split off from the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Barcelona The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Barcelona is a Latin rite Catholic metropolitan archbishopric in northeastern Spain's Catalonia region. The cathedral archiepiscopal see is a Minor basilica: Catedral Basílica Metropolitana de la Santa Creu i ...

, under the Metropolitan

Archdiocese of Tarragona The Archdiocese of Tarragona (Latin, ''Tarraconensis'') is a Roman Catholic ecclesiastical territory located in north-eastern Spain, in the province of Tarragona, part of the autonomous community of Catalonia. The archdiocese heads the ecclesias ...

Pope Hilarius Pope Hilarius (or Hilary) was the bishop of Rome from 19 November 461 to his death on 29 February 468. In 449, Hilarius served as a legate for Pope Leo I at the Second Council of Ephesus. His opposition to the condemnation of Flavian of Consta ...

confirmed its autonomy by denying a request around 469 to unite it with the Barcelona under its own first bishop, Ireneus. It comprised parts of these

Comarques of Catalonia This is a list of the 42 ''comarques'' (singular ''comarca'', , ) into which Catalonia is divided. A ''Comarcas of Spain, comarca'' is a group of municipalities of Catalonia, municipalities, roughly equivalent to a county in the US or a district ...

(Catalan districts) :

Alt Penedès Alt Penedès () is a comarca (county) in Catalonia, northern Spain. The capital is Vilafranca del Penedès Vilafranca del Penedès, or simply Vilafranca (), is the capital of the ''comarca'' of the Alt Penedès in Catalonia, Spain. The Spani ...

Anoia Anoia () is a comarca (county) in central Catalonia, Spain, with its capital at Igualada. The comarca of l'Anoia is irrigated by the Anoia River; the leading industry is the making of paper. To the north are Solsonès and Bages, to the west ...

Baix Llobregat Baix Llobregat () is a comarca (county) on the coast of Catalonia, Spain. Its capital is Sant Feliu de Llobregat. Municipalities Proposed changes It has long been proposed to split the northern part of Baix Llobregat into a separate comarca. ...

and

Vallès Oriental Vallès Oriental () is a comarca (county) in Catalonia, Spain. Its capital is Granollers. Along with Vallès Occidental it forms the grand comarca of Vallès. In May 2015, Vallès Oriental lost four municipalities - Castellcir, Castellterç ...

. A Provincial Council of Tarragona was held there in 615. It effectively succumbed to the Arab (Muslim) conquest in the 8th century and was probably suppressed, its territory being (rather nominally) returned to the

Diocese of Barcelona The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Barcelona is a Latin rite Catholic metropolitan archbishopric in northeastern Spain's Catalonia region. The cathedral archiepiscopal see is a Minor basilica: Catedral Basílica Metropolitana de la Santa Creu i ...

. The Marian cathedral continued to exist until 718, when it was taken over during the

Umayyad conquest of Hispania The Umayyad conquest of Hispania, also known as the Umayyad conquest of the Visigothic Kingdom, was the initial expansion of the Umayyad Caliphate over Hispania (in the Iberian Peninsula) from 711 to 718. The conquest resulted in the decline of t ...

, but was rebuilt in the 12th century, and remains part of a monumental complex of ancient

Visigothic The Visigoths (; la, Visigothi, Wisigothi, Vesi, Visi, Wesi, Wisi) were an early Germanic people who, along with the Ostrogoths, constituted the two major political entities of the Goths within the Roman Empire in late antiquity, or what is k ...

- Romanesque churches of Sant Pere de Terrassa and Sant Miquel on the site. After the Catholic

Reconquista The ' ( Spanish, Portuguese and Galician for "reconquest") is a historiographical construction describing the 781-year period in the history of the Iberian Peninsula between the Umayyad conquest of Hispania in 711 and the fall of the Na ...

of the region in the tenth century, the see was not restored, its territory being incorporated in the (mother) diocese of Barcelona. Why a request to restore the bishopric by its Metropolitan of Tarragona, Cesareo, wasn't honored by

Pope John XII Pope John XII ( la, Ioannes XII; c. 930/93714 May 964), born Octavian, was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 16 December 955 to his death in 964. He was related to the counts of Tusculum, a powerful Roman family which had d ...

(955–964) is unclear. In 2004,

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

created the new

Diocese of Terrassa The Roman Catholic Diocese of Terrassa ( la, Terrassen(sis)) is a diocese located in the city of Terrassa in the Ecclesiastical province of Barcelona in Catalonia, Spain. History * June 15, 2004 - Established as Diocese of Terrassa from the Met ...

on territory taken from the Archdiocese of Barcelona. Its seat is the Cathedral of Holy Sprit.

Diocese of Egara

;Suffragan Bishops of Egara * Ireneo (450? – death 465) * Saint Nebridio (516? – 527?), who was possibly transferred to Barcelona, which had a homonym incumbent in 540. * Tauro (546? – ?) * Sofronio (589? – 592?) * Ilergio (594? – 610?) * Eugenio (633? – ?) * Vincenzo (653? – ?) * Giovanni (683? – 693?) ; Titular see of Egara In 1969

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI ( la, Paulus VI; it, Paolo VI; born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, ; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 to his death in Augus ...

created the

of Egara. The title has been held by: * Justo Goizueta Gridilla, O.A.R. (14 January 1970 – retired 15 February 1978), as

Bishop-Prelate In the Catholic Church, a bishop is an ordained minister who holds the fullness of the sacrament of holy orders and is responsible for teaching doctrine, governing Catholics in his jurisdiction, sanctifying the world and representing the Chu ...

of Territorial Prelature of Madera (Mexico) (1970.01.14 – 1988.02.02), previously Apostolic Administrator of same Madera (1967 – 14 January 1970); died 1991 * Juan Francisco Sarasti Jaramillo,

C.I.M. The Congregation of Jesus and Mary (), abbreviated CIM also known as the Eudists (Latin: ''Congregatio Eudistarum''), is a society of apostolic life of Pontifical Right for men in the Catholic Church. It was established in March 25, 1643 by Sai ...

(8 March 1978 – 23 December 1983) as Auxiliary Bishop of

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cali The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cali ( la, Archidioecesis Caliensis) is an archdiocese located in the city of Cali in Colombia. History * 7 June 1910: Established as Diocese of Cali from the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Popayán * 20 June 196 ...

( Colombia) (8 March 1978 – 23 December 1983); later Bishop of

Barrancabermeja Barrancabermeja is a city in Colombia, located on the shore of the Magdalena River, in the western part of the department of Santander. It is home to the largest oil refinery in the country, under direct management of ECOPETROL. Barrancaberme ...

(Colombia) (23 December 1983 – 25 March 1993), Metropolitan Archbishop of

Ibagué Ibagué () (referred to as San Bonifacio de Ibagué del Valle de las Lanzas during the Spanish period) is the capital of Tolima, one of the 32 departments that make up the Republic of Colombia. The city is located in the center of the country ...

(Colombia) (25 March 1993 – 17 August 2002), Metropolitan Archbishop of above Cali (17 August 2002 – retired 18 May 2011) and Apostolic Administrator of Buenaventura (Colombia) (21 February 2004 – 29 April 2004) * Paulius Antanas Baltakis, O.F.M. (1 June 1984 – 17 May 2019) *

Luis Miguel Romero Fernández Luis Miguel Romero Fernández M.Id, (born 16 June 1954) is a Spanish prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who has been serving as an auxiliary bishop for the Diocese of Rockville Centre in New York since 2020. Biography Romero was born in P ...

, M. Id. (20 March 2020 – present), Auxiliary Bishop of

Rockville Centre Rockville Centre, commonly abbreviated as RVC, is an incorporated Village (New York), village located in the Hempstead, New York, Town of Hempstead in Nassau County, New York, Nassau County, on the South Shore (Long Island), South Shore of Long ...

, New York City

Notable sites

The churches of Sant Pere (Saint Peter)

These three churches were built close to the site of old Ègara to be the seat of the Ègara

Diocese In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associat ...

, which was founded around 450 CE and remained in existence until the 8th century. This episcopal complex follows the Byzantine model of antiquity, with two churches (Sant Pere and Santa Maria) and a

mausoleum A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the interment space or burial chamber of a deceased person or people. A mausoleum without the person's remains is called a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be con ...

(Sant Miquel). After a long period of construction, the churches were finished in the then-current manner about the 11th and 12th centuries and in Romanesque style, on the site of the pre-Romanesque buildings of the Visigothic period. The church of Santa Maria contains outstanding works of art, and there are murals dating from the Romanesque period to the

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

. There is also an altar stone dating from the 10th century and medieval and Romanesque tombstones (one of which documents the name of the Roman town of Egara). In the

transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform ("cross-shaped") building with ...

there are three

altarpiece An altarpiece is an artwork such as a painting, sculpture or relief representing a religious subject made for placing at the back of or behind the altar of a Christian church. Though most commonly used for a single work of art such as a painting ...

s. * Santa Maria (Saint Mary) the old Cathedral **

Apse In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an '' exedra''. ...

from the 6th century **

Nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-typ ...

from the 11th century with exterior Lombardy-style decorations **Romanesque frescoes of

Saint Thomas Becket Thomas Becket (), also known as Saint Thomas of Canterbury, Thomas of London and later Thomas à Becket (21 December 1119 or 1120 – 29 December 1170), was an English nobleman who served as Lord Chancellor from 1155 to 1162, and then ...

from the 12th century **Frescoes from the 13th century * Sant Pere (Saint Peter) **Transept and apse from 9th to 10th centuries **Nave from the 12th century **

Mosaic A mosaic is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly pop ...

from the 10th century (geometric designs) **Stone altarpiece of Sant Pere from the 10th century **Gothic frescoes from the 13th century * Sant Miquel (Saint Michael) **The

Greek cross The Christian cross, with or without a figure of Christ included, is the main religious symbol of Christianity. A cross with a figure of Christ affixed to it is termed a '' crucifix'' and the figure is often referred to as the ''corpus'' ( ...

plan and the walls are the originals from the 6th century **Frescoes from the 7th and 8th centuries in the apse * Other items ** Altarpiece of Sant Pere (1411) by Lluís Borrassà ** Altarpiece of Roser (1587) ** Altarpiece of Sant Ruf (17th century) **Altarpiece of Sant Miquel (1450–51) by Jaume Cirera and Guillem Talarn **Gothic altarpiece of Sant Abdó i Sant Senén (1460) by

Jaume Huguet Jaume Huguet (; 1412–1492) was a Catalan painter. Originally from Valls, he moved to Tarragona to stay with his uncle Pere Huguet, who was also a painter. When they moved to Barcelona he was exposed to modern trends of the time. Between 1440 ...

**Polychrome sculpture of Saint Mary from the 14th century

Other

The city is heir to a rich medieval, ''Modernista'' and industrial legacy, and possesses an extensive network of libraries, historical archives and museums. * The museum of Terrassa, municipally-owned, has various sections: ** Castle/

Charterhouse Charterhouse may refer to: * Charterhouse (monastery), of the Carthusian religious order Charterhouse may also refer to: Places * The Charterhouse, Coventry, a former monastery * Charterhouse School, an English public school in Surrey London ...

of Vallparadís, in the Park of Vallparadís ** Visigothic-Romanesque churches of Sant Pere (Saint Peter) ** Casa Alegre de Sagrera, ''Modernista'' house in Carrer Font Vella ** Tower of the Palau, the only vestige of the castle-palace of the count-kings of Catalonia in Terrassa ** Center of medieval interpretation of the city of Terrassa ** Convent of Sant Francesc,

cloister A cloister (from Latin ''claustrum'', "enclosure") is a covered walk, open gallery, or open arcade running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle or garth. The attachment of a cloister to a cathedral or church, commonly against ...

decorated with polychromed ceramics (1671–1673) * Museum of Science and Industry of Catalonia, in the former Aymerich Amat i Jover mill, managed by the

Generalitat de Catalunya The Generalitat de Catalunya (; oc, label=Aranese, Generalitat de Catalonha; es, Generalidad de Cataluña), or the Government of Catalonia, is the institutional system by which Catalonia politically organizes its self-government. It is formed ...

Municipal Government

The Municipal Council has 27 seats and according to the result of the local elections of May 2019 is formed by: SantLlorençMunt-MonestirLaMola

*All for Terrassa (Tot per Terrassa, TxT) – 10 seats (29.28%) *

Socialists' Party of Catalonia The Socialists' Party of Catalonia ( ca, Partit dels Socialistes de Catalunya, PSC–PSOE official acronym) is a social-democratic political party in Catalonia, Spain, resulting from the merger of three parties: the Socialist Party of Catalonia� ...

(Partit dels Socialistes de Catalunya, PSC) – 7 seats (20.55%) *

Republican Left of Catalonia The Republican Left of Catalonia ( ca, Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya, ERC; ; generically branded as ) is a pro-Catalan independence, social-democratic political party in the Spanish autonomous community of Catalonia, with a presence also in ...

(Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya, ERC) – 5 seats (14.93%) *

Citizens Citizenship is a "relationship between an individual and a state to which the individual owes allegiance and in turn is entitled to its protection". Each state determines the conditions under which it will recognize persons as its citizens, and ...

(Ciutadans, Cs) – 3 seats (8.11%) * Together for Catalonia (Junts per Catalunya, JxCAT) – 2 seats (7.56%) The municipal government is formed by a coalition of Tot per Terrassa and ERC. The Mayor is Jordi Ballart (TxT).

Transportation

Terrassa is well connected with Barcelona's port and airport by highway and railway. The C-58 and C-16 also link the city with (

Manresa Manresa () is the capital of the Comarca of Bages, located in the geographical centre of Catalonia, Spain, and crossed by the river Cardener. It is an industrial area with textile, metallurgical, and glass industries. The houses of Manresa a ...

), (

Girona Girona (officially and in Catalan , Spanish: ''Gerona'' ) is a city in northern Catalonia, Spain, at the confluence of the Ter, Onyar, Galligants, and Güell rivers. The city had an official population of 103,369 in 2020. Girona is the capit ...

, France), and (

Tarragona Tarragona (, ; Phoenician: ''Tarqon''; la, Tarraco) is a port city located in northeast Spain on the Costa Daurada by the Mediterranean Sea. Founded before the fifth century BC, it is the capital of the Province of Tarragona, and part of Tar ...

). The railway reached Terrassa in 1856, and nowadays two lines serve the city. The first, operated by Renfe, connects with Barcelona and Lleida, and the second, operated by FGC, with Barcelona. Recently FGC extended its line to the north of the city, building three new stations; one of them acts as a rail hub with the Renfe line. This extension is known as the Terrassa Metro. Several interurban bus lines connect Terrassa with the closest cities and towns such as

Castellar del Vallès Castellar del Vallès is a Spanish municipality of Catalonia in the comarca of Vallès Occidental. It is located 7 km from Sabadell and 11 km from Terrassa, the comarca's two capitals. Other villages near Castellar del Vallès are ...

Martorell Martorell () is a municipality that forms part of the Baix Llobregat comarca, in Catalonia, Spain, primarily known for its medieval Devil's bridge. It lies at the confluence of the Llobregat and Anoia rivers. It has three railway stations - o ...

, Rubí,

Sant Cugat del Vallès Sant Cugat del Vallès (; es, San Cugat del Vallés, link=no) is a town and municipality north of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Known as ''Castrum Octavianum'' in antiquity (which literally means ''the