Sitges

In the early 1300s the lordship passed from that family to a knight of James II's court, and after his death it went to the Pia Almoina of Barcelona, a charitable foundation that remained lord of Sitges until 1814. The town lived on its vineyards, above all the malvasia grape, and on the sea: in 1345 the market town of Vilafranca, inland, asked leave to use Sitges as its port, and the little harbour became the outlet of the Penedès. After the decree of 1778 opened free trade with the Americas, woods were cleared for more malvasia, and the young men of Sitges began to sail for the Americas themselves.