Súria

The name Súria may come from the Roman toponym *Sorisa*, meaning "white" — a reference to the salt mines that once defined the area. The town's urban origins lie in the late medieval period, but it was towards the end of that era that Súria grew most significantly, developing into a fortified settlement that made the most of its natural hilltop position.

The old quarter, known as the Poble Vell, sits on a hill dominated by a castle with a Romanesque keep, or tower of homage, and the church of El Roser — formerly called the church of Sant Cristòfol — which retains an apse and bell tower from the same period. The Poble Vell was built tightly around the castle in a narrow, walled space, and still holds the shape of a medieval settlement: close streets, arcades, and porches largely intact.

Súria is a municipality in the comarca of Bages, in the province of Barcelona, Cataluña. It lies about 15 km from Manresa, the comarca's capital, in the valley of the Cardener river, which runs through the town and divides it in two. On one side is the popular neighbourhood of Salipota; on the other, the older part of town beneath the Poble Vell promontory. The surrounding terrain is broken by the ridges of the Castelltallat mountains to the west and Castelladral to the north, and drained by several watercourses — the Coaner stream and the Tordell and Hortons brooks — all feeding into the Cardener.

In 1932, Súria was one of the main centres of the Alt Llobregat uprising, during which libertarian communism was proclaimed and the town was cut off from the outside world for four days.