A Document, a Pope and a Monastery
The bull of Pope Silvester II, issued in December 1002, is the first documentary evidence of the name Gavà. In this document, the Pope confirmed that the monastery of Sant Cugat del Vallès owned property in the earldom of Barcelona, among which was the "allodium of Gavà". The part of the original document where the reference to Gavà appears no longer exists, but we know that the name was mentioned thanks to a document dating from 1007 (the original of this document has also been lost, but a 13th-century copy still survives). This document reproduces the 1002 text, where Gavà is mentioned as Gaiano. It is thought that the "i" was the result of an error by the copier, as in later documents the name is written with a "v": Gevano, Gavano, Gavan or Gava.

Gavà One Thousand Years Ago: Castles, Farms and Peasants
The area where modern-day Gavà now stands was part of the estate of the Eramprunyà castle, which stretched from the Llobregat River to the Garraf massif. There were small villages around the church of Sant Pere (now an area of historical interest, which may well have been the "allodium of Gavà"), La Roca (near the modern Calamot park), La Sentiu, Eramprunyà castle and modern-day Bruguers.
In the mountains, there were scattered settlements linked to the farms and the land, which was increasingly in the hands of large lay and religious landowners.

Monks and Noblemen who Ruled the Lande
The monastery of Sant Cugat del Vallès owned a large number of properties in Castelldefels, Viladecans, Sant Climent and Gavà. We know that in Gavà municipality, the modern town centre and La Sentiu and El Sitjar houses, among others, were property of the monastery. From Emprunyà castle, owned the counts of Barcelona, the lords of the Mir family held economic and military control of large stretches of the mountainous areas of modern-day Gavà, Begues, Sant Climent de Llobregat and part of Sitges

Find out more:
Gavà Museum. Tel. no.: +34 93 638 25 70

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