Foix Mill

It was one of the first buildings built in the flat area next to the river, forming the nucleus of the els Monjos.

The construction known as Foix Mill (formerly Macià mill) is what remains of the old medieval flour mill, which took advantage of the water carried by the Foix river to mill grain. The entire exterior structure of the mill is preserved, as is part of the pool where the water accumulated.

The building, owned by the municipality, is the headquarters of the Foix Mill Historical and Natural Interpretation Centre, Nature Classroom and Botanical Garden, with native species, where educational activities are carried out for school children and the general public on environmental and natural issues.

Presentation

The Molí del Foix, Historical and Natural Interpretation Center, is a municipal facility located in the old facilities of a medieval flour mill in the center of Els Monjos (municipality of Santa Margarida i els Monjos, Alt Penedès). It used water of the Foix river to grind grain and produce flour.

There is documentary evidence of it in the 10th century. It was one of the first buildings built in the flat area next to the river, forming the nucleus of els Monjos. The first houses in the village were located around the church of Santa Margarida in a mountainous area.

It functioned as a flour mill first and a flour industry later, until the beginning of the 20th century, when it changed its activity to a wine cellar.

In 1995 the mill became municipal property, starting the process of recovering this building for public use.

The facilities

The Mill has a room for temporary exhibitions located on the ground floor of the building, right at the entrance, where you can observe the original stone that was the ceiling of the millstone room.

The Nature Classroom is on the first floor, where the farmers’ living quarters used to be. It is a multipurpose room with an area dedicated to internal work, meetings and where the Environmental Documentation Centre is hosted, where bibliographic consultations concerning environmental issues can be made.

The Grindstone Room s located on a lower level, where the machinery of the flour mill used to be housed. It has been restored respecting the original architectural elements. The floor is covered by wood and glass, which allows you to see where the grindstones and the ancient wine vats were located. This is a multi-purpose room for various activities such as talks, exhibitions, concerts, and so on.

Outside we find the Botanical Garden which boasts species belonging to different plant communities of the Alt Penedès.

The mill

Cereal farming
Cereal farming began in the eastern Mediterranean in the Neolithic. From there it spread to north Africa and Europe. Cereal farming involves knowing the crop cycle of each type of cereal. This crop cycle determines the sowing period, the germination of the ears and harvesting, as well as the agricultural work that must be carried out throughout the year.

Cereals. The staple diet
Since ancient times, cereals have played a fundamental role in the human diet. They currently provide for more than half of the world’s protein needs, whether in the form of flour, bread, pasta or couscous. Fermented beverages and by-products are also obtained from cereals, such as bran, gluten and starch.

From grain to flour. The early mills
In order to be consumed, cereals must undergo a process of milling, to turn them into flour. Since ancient times, humans have equipped themselves with a series of mechanical instruments to mill cereals: from the Neolithic cup-shaped mills to the Roman cone frustum mill, passing through the mortars and pinwheels used by the Iberian communities.

The force of water. Grinders and rollers
In the middle ages, a new kind of mill spread which, unlike previous ones, used water as its main driving force: the water mill. The adoption by medieval communities of the water mill meant a considerable rise in flour production, given that their milling capacity was considerably increased.

Botanical garden

The Botanical Garden of Foix, a didactic walk among the flora of Penedès.

The Molí del Foix Botanical Garden is a space where, in addition to strolling and enjoying the plants found there, we can learn. Learn about our region and its vegetation. That is why species belonging to different plant communities of the Alt Penedès are represented.

The distribution of the plants in the garden does not respond to an attempt to reproduce the natural vegetation of the region, in which the species live associated in communities (the oak grove, the pine groves, the brushwood and the riparian forest), but simply to give a more or less extensive sample of the plant species that make up some of these communities.