Artés

Artés is a Spanish town in the province of Barcelona, Bages comarca (county), in Catalonia.LocationThe town of Artés is located at the center of Catalonia, at the eastern edge of the plain zone of Bages -commonly known as Pla de Bages. The town is in the basin of the Gavarresa river and of its affluent, the stream of Malrubí.It is bordered on the North by the towns of Sallent and Avinyó, in the South by Calders and it shares a small border in the West with Navarcles, on the limit of the Llobregat river.The town is near the Artés Formation, a unique geological formation that owes its name to its proximity with the town.HistoryThe name of Artés is believed to derive from the Latin word Artium , which means "fortified hill". This is based on the evidence of the existence of a 6th-century fortified church on the top of the hill of Artés, where the first settlers began to expand the village into the valley.Little evidence of the Prehistory of Artés has been discovered to date. However, a document from the year 938 indicates the presence of three dolmens; and abundant samples of Iberian pottery have been found in the valley of Salabernada.