In Sant Pau D'ordal, architectural history, a designed public space and traces of the Esperanto movement come together. Visitors looking for a cultural focus during their stay can get to know the place through these different themes: from the architecture of the Església de Sant Pau d'Ordal to Parc de Subirats and sites along an Esperanto route. Its history is revealed not only through dates; the design of the square and park complex and local traditions are also part of the picture.

Church and Early History

The Església de Sant Pau d'Ordal has a single nave and an apse. Its main façade features a portal with a voussoir arch; a square bell tower stands to the left. A voussoir arch is formed from individual wedge-shaped stones. Together with the clearly identifiable arrangement of the portal and tower, this makes the church easy to describe even without specialist knowledge. The earliest documented references to the church date from 1054 to 1060. This period marks the earliest records, not necessarily the construction date of the building as it is described today.

Inside, a fragmentary baptismal font is located in a chapel to the right of the entrance. If you would like to see it, check in advance whether the church is open to visitors. The architecture and baptismal font offer two different ways to discover the church: the building's exterior layout and a surviving object inside.

The Plaça and Parc Complex

Parc de Subirats is a public park in the centre of Sant Pau d'Ordal. Large stone forms stand alongside native and cultivated vegetation characteristic of the local landscape. The park thus brings together designed elements and plants rooted in the surrounding landscape. The Plaça and Parc complex was designed by architect Iñaki Ozcariz and inaugurated in June 2005; the Font de la Plaça Subirats is also part of the complex.

The location of the Font can be identified by following the path: it is on a green footpath leading downhill from Plaça Subirats to the football pitch. The Escultura de la Plaça Subirats is a three-metre-high abstract wooden sculpture, secured to the ground with a metal platform. Its origins lie in Vilafranca del Penedès: it was created during the first Alt Penedès Sculpture Symposium, held from 16 to 20 June 2003 in Plaça Jaume I, in front of Palau Baltà. The present-day design of the square and park complex and the story of the artwork's creation in another part of the region thus stand alongside one another as distinct chapters.

Esperanto Sites and Local Traditions

In Sant Pau d'Ordal, the Esperanto Route in Subirats includes the pharmacy, Carrer Zamenhof, the former Esperanto Museum, the schools and other outdoor areas in the town. The reference to the former museum preserves the site's historical status: it is a stop associated with a former institution. As route itineraries can change, check the current route before setting out and consider which of the listed stops you would like to focus on.

Lluís M. Hernández Yzal (1917–2002), a pharmacist from Barcelona who settled in Sant Pau d'Ordal in 1945 and became interested in Esperanto in the late 1950s, is associated with the history of Esperanto. A religious legend about Sant Serapi, also known as Sant Serafí, is also historically associated with Sant Pau d'Ordal. Both topics add different aspects of local history to the picture of its buildings and squares: the development of a cultural movement and a religious tradition.

Those looking beyond the town to Subirats can explore the route network there by electric bicycle, on foot or on horseback. These options refer to the route network across Subirats as a whole.

Discover more destinations: Lavern, Castellet i la Gornal, Caldes D'estrac, Matadepera, Olèrdola, Arenys De Mar, Castellgalí, Vilafranca Del Penedès.

For the overview of the wider region: Barcelona.