The name of this square, Plaça de l’Oli ("oli" meaning “olive oil”) comes simply from the fact that it was the place where this essential product was sold. The square is on record since 1473. Around it there are several important buildings: the Palace of the Marquis of Alfarràs, which was built between 1790 and 1794 and is currently the seat of the Sant Ramon de Penyafort School; Cal Gomà, a structure of late mediaeval origin which was the ancestral home of the Bishop of Vic, Josep Torras i Bages (1846-1916), and is now the seat of the municipal library; Cal Posas, dating from the 18th century, and the Meat and Fish Market, from 1887.

Wine

Over the course of the 18th century, the Penedès region became specialised in winegrowing in response to the will for a change in the area’s principal crop, switching from grain to vines in order to ensure the subsistence of a larger number of people.
The expansion of the cultivation of vines and winemaking, together with the conversion of wine into brandy, led to a thriving transatlantic trade, selling these products directly or indirectly to the Spanish colonies in the Americas. Within this framework, Andalusia and Cantabria also began to purchase the Penedès brandy in 1820. The port of Cadiz was the destination of 45.7% of the brandy and of 29.64% of the wine between 1830 and 1832.

Culture/Heritage/History/Festivals

In the 19th century, Vilafranca was the birthplace of a large number of intellectuals and university professors, which led some people to call it the “Factory of Academics of Catalonia”. These people included, among many others, Josep Morgades Gili, bishop of Vic and of Barcelona; Josep Torras i Bages, bishop of Vic; Josep Estalella i Sivillà, bishop of Teruel; Manuel Milà i Fontanals, professor of literature at the University of Barcelona; and Gaietà Vidal i Valenciano, professor of historical geography of Spain at the University of Barcelona as well.
The 19th century was also the period when a winegrowing conflict arose over a type of land tenancy contract called "rabassa morta". This type of contract remained effective for as long as the original vines on a property were still alive. This time limit, however, was precisely what led to the conflict between the land owners and the tenant farmers. The owners wished to do away with such contracts because they wanted to raise the price of the lease, while the farmers wanted to prolong their tenancy as much as possible by means of cuttings and layerings, i.e., by placing canes from the vines into the ground so that they would take root and grow, giving new life and continuity to the original vines. All this brought about an economic and social conflict in the Penedès region and the Catalan countryside at large.

References to other places

There is a beam press at Avinguda de Tarragona, adjacent to the wayside cross of Sant Salvador. This wine press comes from the farmhouse Cal Palau de la Torregassa in Sant Jaume dels Domenys (Baix Penedès region, Tarragona province) and dates from the year 1588. It remained in service until 1957. On 17 September 1961, within the framework of the Grape Harvest Festival, a ceremony was held to mark the installation of the press in its new location.
Right near Plaça de l’Oli, in the direction of Sant Pau Mountain, stands the old Municipal Slaughterhouse, which was built in 1902 according to the design by the architect Santiago Güell i Grau. It was conceived to improve the sanitary conditions and the slaughtering process in meat production. It is now a building that hosts different associations and the seat of the Municipal Council for Culture.