Archaeological complex of Castellot de Castellví de la Marca

The Castellví castellot, known by the early medieval sources as Castrum Vetulum, occupies a dominant peak over the whole of the Penedès plain and corresponds to a very particular archaeological site among the Catalan castles, since it was a main fortification during several historical periods.

With little previous data that observed the presence of prehistoric materials in the surroundings of the Castellot cave, during the years 2016-2021 the OCORDE research group has conducted an intense archaeological activity in this site and its surroundings. The actions began with two consecutive prospecting campaigns in the municipality of Castellví de la Marca, where 21 archaeological areas of interest were identified and delimited, reporting mainly ancient and medieval materials. Then, in 2017, excavations began in the Castellot with an intervention outside the walls, on the lower platform of the complex, on a small sector of about 100 m2 of surface where a residential space attributable to the tenth century was identified. From there, during the four-year period 2018-2021 the interventions have been developed entirely on the upper platform of the site, thanks to the conjunction with the initiatives of the City Council of Castellví de la Marca, which promotes the restoration of the complex. Here the excavations have affected almost the entire castle and have been carried out with the participation of the companies Arquepec (2018) and Arqueòlegs.cat (2020-2022). In parallel, the various structures have been consolidated and are now in the process of conditioning.

These interventions have made it possible to know the different phases of occupation of the site and to date quite accurately the various buildings and walls that occupy the summit. Thus, the presence of prehistoric materials allows us to infer the existence of an Early Bronze Age settlement, characterized by coarse, burnished ceramics with small buttons in relief on the body of the pieces. Likewise, in the site there are also identified several materials from the Roman period that basically report us towards the change of era and the high empire. However, these older materials from the top of the Castellot do not present associated structures, neither prehistoric nor Roman, which later occupations would have destroyed.

Further on, it does not seem that the site was reoccupied until well into the Andalusian period, when the master tower with a circular plan and massive base was built, with which the medieval fortification began. Based on the rock, the tower is effectively the first solid construction on the summit, a building that was refurbished in the 19th century and in 2018 was restored. However, the relative dating of the tower places its construction predictably during the 9th century or not much later, given the presence of common pottery from the Emirate period in its surroundings and also throughout the site.

In turn, several calibrated dates indicate that both the first wall attached to the tower and the rectangular building of the aula castral, which was transformed into a church in the early eleventh century or shortly before, were built during the tenth century, while a second, more extensive wall was built. However, from the 12th century onwards, the castle began a long decline, until the refortification of the site in the 15th century, during the period of the Catalan Civil War and its aftermath. Then a barracks was built next to the tower and a new perimeter wall was built, which would be abandoned definitively at the end of the conflicts or shortly thereafter. More information about this source textFor more information about the translation, you need the source text Send comments Side panels. 

Today, archaeological research continues on the outside of the fortification, where other areas of interest have been detected. Thus, the last intervention carried out during the summer of 2022 has discovered another early medieval area at the foot of the aula castral, which is associated with a quarry area and which must be related to the first preserved constructions. Near the Castellot, there are also plans to study and consolidate the remains of the tower of Can Pascol, which also dates back to the Andalusian period and which the Castellví Town Council intends to restore. These fortifications certify the interest of the early medieval heritage of Castellví de la Marca, and even anticipate the county conquest of the Penedès at the beginning of the 10th century.