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Pratdip is known as "El Prat" by the people of Pratdip and also by the neighbours. The word "Prat" is thought to be a pre-roman noun, as Coromines says. The village belonged from its origins on, to the Entença Barony, and some years after it belonged to the Prades earldom. It was quite independent from Tivissa, although the Bischsob of Barcelona still conserved some rights in Pratdip. The first documents that contain the name of Pratdip are the Pope Anastasio IV's bulles, from 1154, and the Pope Celestino III's bulles, from 1194. Outside the church we find the sepulchre of Jacobusde Carcasona, from 1238. During the first thirty years in the 13th. century the village was sacked by Pere de los Arcos. In the 13th. century, the Hospitalet de l'Infant received the right to exploit the water from Pratdip that flows into the Llastres river. The Hospital had a mill of flour and oil, and some rights to use the bread oven and the fruit trees in the village. In 1460 some of these rights were changed into some rights over the castle and lands in Pratdip. At the end of the 17th. century, thirteen beekeepings were installed, and they gave high profits to the village. By this time, the cattle raising was fairly important. In the 18th. century, we note an important demographic and technological development. Another important change was that Pratdip lost the possession of the Planes against Mont-Roig in a sort of court. Pratdip wanted the Planes because they had been given to the village by Guillem de Entença in 1301.After this, in 1303 Jaume II said that this land belonged to the Entenças. A sentence of 1437 divided the land into two parts (one for each village). There were some more sentences in both directions, but finally, even though Pratdip appealled to the king again in 1804, it lost the Planes. In 1811, during the Guerra del Francés, the colonel Iglesias fought against the frech army in Pratdip. The castle was an important reference during the Carlina's wars. In 1846, there was a earthquake that hurt Pratdip's houses and the Sanctuary of Santa Marina. At the end of the 19th. century, the iron mines were exploited. In the 20th. century the population has decreased.
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The Fiestas are on the 8th.of September and on the18th. of July. In July there is the Santa Marina's pilgrimage. It was said that any girl who went in it would become bride. There is a popular song for this that says: "A Santa Marina ves-hi fadrina, que si fadrina hi vas, casada tornaràs" (If you are a single woman and you go to the pilgrimage, you will be married when you are back). It is said that there were some strange animals (called dips) that lived in the field around the village. They could be a kind of dogs. They are represented in the Santa Marina's altarpiecce, and in the coat of arms. The dips' legend was the main topic of a Joan Perucho's novel, "Las historias naturales".
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On the top of the hill there are still some remains of the castle. There are some walls ruins (some of them are inside some houses), and some tower ruins. One of them, the Capet, which has a beautiful arch, was used as a prison some time before. The Santa Marina's Sanctuary is 4 km. far from the village. It is a big building with cypress trees near it. There is a well-known fountain too. It semi-detached to four houses which were used as a hotels in the 19th. century. In 1918 there was built a thermal, but this was not very succesful. We want to mention the Cueva de Pratdip (it is 30 metres deep), and the Montaña Blanca abyss of 31 metres deep.
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-Gran Enciclopedia comarcal de Catalunya.
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| Town council | Municipality | |||||||||