Castell d'Olorda

Castell d'Olorda lies in Barcelona’s Collserola mountain range, near Puig d’Olorda and the Santa Creu d’Olorda hermitage. Its medieval remains belong to a vanished castle whose exact position remains uncertain. Some accounts place it on the summit, while others identify the manor beside the hermitage.

Historical records confirm the fortress by the mid-fourteenth century, when King Pere el Cerimoniós sold it to Pere des Llor. Berenguer de Relat, Lluís de Relat, Lluís Pou, and Lluís Desvalls later held it alongside nearby Castell Ciuró. The site mainly served as a watchtower, so it lost strategic importance and deteriorated earlier than its better-connected neighbour. Its jurisdiction included Vallvidrera and Sant Bartomeu de la Quadra, while its owners generally lived at Castell Ciuró.

Several building phases formed a rectangular central courtyard around the oldest tower. A semicircular arched entrance survives on the side facing the square, with traces of Gothic windows on the north side. Later use included a rectory, but the structure now stands in ruins as a protected cultural property of national interest. The remaining arch and scattered masonry connect the Collserola landscape with centuries of watchmen, noble ownership, and changing power.