A County of Barcelona farmhouse

No one knows precisely when it was built but some studies date it back to the 12th century. The Generalitat’s 16th-century records call it Torre de la Verge Maria while the coat of arms over the main door tells us it used to be owned by the County of Barcelona. Invariably linked to the agricultural life of Sant Martí de Provençals, the farmhouse survives, but it is very rundown.

The Torre de Fang, a medieval tower, was built on the royal road that led from the Portal Nou gate in the walls of Barcelona to the towns of Sant Martí de Provençals and Sant Andreu de Palomar. During the Siege of Barcelona between 1713 and 1714, Bourbon troops bombed Barce­lona from the tower.

A house marked by trains

The construction of the railway in the mid-19th century forced Torre del Fang to abandon its agricultural past andit soon became a building materials factory. The house, nearly a thousand years old, still stands but it is in a very poor state. Building work currently in progress on the AVE high-speed station at La Sagrera has left it out of bounds to the public. No decision will be made on its future use until the building work has finished. For the moment it is closed off.