Castell de Barberà, cultural property in Barberà del Vallès, Spain

The Castell de Barberà is a fortified farmhouse complex in Barberà del Vallès, built around a rectangular central block enclosed by a perimeter wall with a battered bastion at its northwest corner. Inside stands part of the cylindrical keep, its stone wall about 8 metres in outer diameter, and two cisterns lie nearby. A moat runs around the whole enclosure, and the main south entrance is a large semicircular-arched portal reached by a bridge.

Documented from 1005, the castle began as a tower with palisade and moat; from the 11th century it belonged to Count Borrell II of Barcelona, then passed to the Ribes, Montcada and Pinós families. Philip III ceded it to the Garcerán de Pinós, and in 1702 Philip V made José Garcerán de Pinós first Marquis of Barberà. After the War of the Spanish Succession the castle was demolished as punishment and later rebuilt as a farmhouse, with major works in 1604 and the 16th–18th centuries.

The chapel inside the enclosure was dedicated to Sant Silvestre and Santa Coloma; rebuilt in the 18th century in the style of the period, its remains stand by the south-east corner in front of the main façade. The building later became a masia, a Catalan farmhouse, and was inhabited by tenant farmers until the 20th century.

The complex is reached from the south through a semicircular stone arch portal over a bridge crossing the moat; two further entrances open on the east side and by the southwest corner, the latter leading straight into the moat. The building was ceded to the Diputació de Barcelona for public facilities, so check locally before travelling. Ground inside the enclosure is uneven.

The keep's cylindrical wall, about 8 metres across, stands inside the enclosure at one corner, and two cisterns lie close to it. The 1971 test pits also exposed pre-Romanesque or possibly Visigothic wall faces and an arch, older than the castle's documented year 1005.