CONCA DE BARBER

It is highly probable that wine production was introduced by the ancient Romans but by the time of the Moorish dominion of the Iberian peninsula it had all but disappeared from the Conca de Barber area. As in many other wine producing regions, wine production took off again thanks to the influence of the monasteries founded in the Middle Ages, in this case the Monastery of Santa Maria de Poblet, near Montblancwhich was then the third largest city of Catalonia. In the 12th century both the Knights Templar and the monks from Poblet worked the vineyards. The wine was produced in the basement of the monastery and can be visited today. The period from the end of the 18th century to the mid 19th century was one of expansion for the area. Wines and spirits were exported to northern Europe and to the Americas and grapes became the dominant crop. In this period terraces were built on the mountainsides to increase the area under vines as much as possible. The railway connecting Montblanc to Reus on the coast was built in order to transport wine more rapidly and efficiently. The arrival of the phylloxera virus at the end of the 19th century marked the end of this boom period as most of the vineyards were devastated. However the comeback was spectacular. The Conca de Barber area was the first in Catalonia, and in the rest of Spain, to form agricultural cooperatives based on grape growing and wine production. Thus in 1894 the grape growers of Barber founded a syndicate for collective wine production. Under the direction of Joan Espulgas (a vintner who had learned how to combat the phylloxera virus in France) the syndicate undertook the project of replanting all the vineyards in the Conca area, by grafting onto phylloxera resistant New World rootstock. Success ensued and in 1903 the first cooperative winery in Spain was built in the town of Barber.Conca de Barber attained official DO status in 1985.

MONESTIR DE POBLET
The Royal Abbey of Santa Maria de Poblet (Catalan: Reial Monestir de Santa Maria de Poblet, Spanish: Real Monasterio de Santa Mara de Poblet) is a Cistercian monastery, founded in 1151, located at the feet of the Prades Mountains, in the comarca of Conca de Barber, in Catalonia (Spain). It was founded by Cistercian monks from France on lands conquered to theSaracens. The main architect was Arnau Bargus. This monastery was the first of three sister monasteries, known as the Cistercian triangle, that helped consolidate power in Catalonia in the 12th century. (The other two are Vallbona de les Monges and Santes Creus)

a. -Where is the monastery located? In conca de barber b. -When was it inclued in the UNESCO world heritage list? In 1991 was decladed World Heritage by UNESCO c. -How far does the history of the monastery go back? Was founded in 1153 d. -When where the monks where there in 1835? In 1835 came the monks of th explautaci e. -How many monks where there in 1835? There were 200 monks f. When did the monks return to the monastery? General Franco in 1940 that gave the monastery