Ripoll

42°12N 2°12E, pop (2000e) 11 200. Township of Spain, in the province of Gerona; mechanical, textile, food and tanning industries, sawmills; noted for its Benedictine monastery, founded by Guifré I ‘the hairy’ in 879 and consecrated in 888; Lombard Romanesque church, consisting of five naves, seven apses and two towers; its portico is the most important iconographic unit in Catalunya.

Ripoll is the capital of the comarca (county) of Ripollès, in the province of Girona, Catalonia.

The first traces of humans inhabiting the area date from the Bronze Age and can be seen in form of dolmens as those found in El Sot de Dones Mortes or in Pardinella.

It has a famous Benedictine monastery built in the Romanesque style, founded by the count Wilfred the Hairy (called Guifré el Pilós in Catalan) in 879, who used it as a centre to repopulate the region after conquering it.

An abundance of coal and iron ore, coupled with the ample water supply of the rivers Ter and Freser, encouraged a metal-working industry in the early Middle Ages.

Coordinates: 42°11′N 2°12′E