Archaeological remains

The hill of Ca n'Oliver is a large archaeological site that was occupied throughout the Iberian period (from the 6th to the 1st century BC) and later during the High Middle Ages. The hill is part of the last foothills of the mountain range of Collserola and visually dominates all the plain of the region of the Vallès. It was this strategic situation that determined that it was inhabited during these two periods.

The Iberian settlement corresponds to a town of great dimensions that occupies all the high part of the hill and its slopes and that presents three constructive phases that correspond with the three phases of the Iberian culture. The town was surrounded by a defensive system formed by the combination of moats, towers and doors. In the interior, the urban pattern adapted to the hill by terraces where the rows of attached buildings were arranged forming neighborhoods.

A large field of silos stretched out on the outside. From the village of Ca n'Oliver, the elites controlled the agricultural production of a large surrounding territory where the direct exploiters of the area were small farms. During the Middle Ages the hill was occupied again. The archaeological excavations have allowed to document remains of constructions and silos corresponding to the High Middle Ages in the northern slope.

The cartulary of the monastery of Sant Cugat mentions the existence of a castellum on the hill. Archaeological and documentary data seem to indicate the existence of some kind of buildings linked to the visual control of the territory. There is no record of anyone inhabiting the hill after the Middle Ages. Old images show that it was full of terraces where vineyards and fruit trees were possibly cultivated. The hill belonged to the house of Ca n'Oliver, from which it takes its name.