Cardona, Spain

Cardona
Cardona from the air
Cardona from the air
Coat of arms of Cardona
Cardona is located in Catalonia
Cardona
Cardona
Location in Catalonia
Cardona is located in Spain
Cardona
Cardona
Cardona (Spain)
Coordinates: 41°54′49″N 1°40′50″E / 41.91361°N 1.68056°E / 41.91361; 1.68056
CountrySpain
Community Catalonia
ProvinceBarcelona
ComarcaBages
Government
 • MayorFerran Estruch Torrents (2015)[1]
Area
 • Total66.7 km2 (25.8 sq mi)
Elevation
506 m (1,660 ft)
Population
 (2018)[3]
 • Total4,652
 • Density70/km2 (180/sq mi)
Websitewww.cardona.cat

Cardona (Catalan pronunciation: [kəɾˈðonə]) is a town in the Spanish region of Catalonia, in the province of Barcelona; about 90 km (56 mi) northwest of the city of Barcelona, on a hill almost surrounded by the river Cardener, a branch of the Llobregat. To the east of the town, the river has been diverted through a tunnel has been dug through a spur, leaving a loop of dry river bed near the saltmine.

Rock salt mine in Cardona

Near the town is an extensive deposit of rock salt. The salt forms a mountain mass (called Muntanya de Sal) covered by a thick bed of a reddish-brown clay, and apparently resting on a yellowish-grey sandstone. It is generally more or less translucent, and large masses of it are quite transparent. The hill has been worked like a mine since Roman times; pieces cut from it have been carved by artists in Cardona into images, crucifixes and many articles of an ornamental kind.[4]

  1. ^ "Ajuntament de Cardona". Generalitat of Catalonia. Retrieved 2015-11-13.
  2. ^ "El municipi en xifres: Cardona". Statistical Institute of Catalonia. Retrieved 2015-11-23.
  3. ^ Municipal Register of Spain 2018. National Statistics Institute.
  4. ^ Chisholm 1911.