Cementiri de Salitja

Cementiri de Salitja is a small cemetery located along Camí al Cementiri de Salitja, in the municipality of Vilobí d'Onyar, in the Selva region of the Girona province, Catalonia. It sits within the area of Salitja, one of the three population centers that make up the present-day municipality of Vilobí d'Onyar, alongside Vilobí itself and Sant Dalmai.

Where does the site come from?

The present-day cemetery was built on land known as Serra del mas Bagur, in the stretch between Vilobí and Salitja. The choice of location follows a pattern common to many rural Catalan cemeteries: a raised, somewhat separated plot outside the older settlement cores, rather than a spot inside either village.

What connects this land to Salitja's history?

The surroundings of Salitja carry a documented history that reaches far beyond the current cemetery. During excavation works tied to the redevelopment of Salitja's Plaça Major, archaeologists uncovered the remains of a medieval cemetery, provisionally dated to the 12th–13th centuries. Around thirty burials were found there, showing that this general area had served a burial function for centuries, even though in a different spot from today's cemetery on Camí al Cementiri.

The same archaeological works in the center of Salitja also produced another striking find: a fragment of a Roman statue of the god Mercury, dated to the 1st century BC. This discovery indicates that the land where Salitja now stands was already inhabited and used during Roman times, long before the medieval necropolis existed, and much longer before the modern cemetery was established.

What role does the cemetery play today?

The modern Cementiri de Salitja functions as an active municipal cemetery, serving the residents of Salitja and the neighboring communities that form the municipality of Vilobí d'Onyar. While the site itself holds no architectural landmark status, its location continues a long tradition of burial grounds in this part of the Selva region — from the archaeologically documented medieval graves to today's necropolis.

For visitors exploring the area around Girona and the Onyar river valley, Vilobí d'Onyar and its adjoining Salitja offer a glimpse of a typical rural Catalan municipality where Roman, medieval, and contemporary layers of history overlap within a small area. The cemetery, modest as it is, forms part of that continuous settlement story.

Frequently asked questions

Where exactly is Cementiri de Salitja located? Along Camí al Cementiri de Salitja, on land known as Serra del mas Bagur, between the villages of Vilobí and Salitja, within the municipality of Vilobí d'Onyar (Girona, Catalonia).

Is this a historic cemetery? The cemetery itself is a modern municipal facility. What is historic are the nearby traces of earlier settlement: medieval graves from the 12th–13th centuries found beneath Salitja's Plaça Major, and a Roman fragment of a Mercury statue from the 1st century BC.

Can Salitja be visited alongside Vilobí d'Onyar? Yes, Salitja is one of the three population centers of the Vilobí d'Onyar municipality and lies close to the main village, making it easy to combine both stops on a single trip through the Selva region.