Mataró dates back toRoman times when it was a village known as "Iluro" or "Illuro". The ruins of a first-century BC Romanbath house (known locally as theTorre Llauder) were recently discovered and can be visited. The coastalN-II highway follows the same path as the original Roman road,Via Augusta.
Mataró was declared a city by royal decree, even though at the time (nineteenth century) the population fell short of the requirement for city status.
Mataró City Wall. (was built between 1569 and 1600 and was designed by the military engineer Jorge de Setara. This wall is supposed to follow, to a large extent, the line of the old Roman wall. It was built with small stones bound with lime mortar. The Mataró City Wall had seven large gates, as well as attached towers that gave it greater defence. During the 19th century, many sections of the old Mataró City Wall were demolished.)
The traditionalvineyards were devastated byPhylloxera in the nineteenth century and only partially replanted, due to the growth of the tourist industry and the development ofirrigation in the area.Potatoes were one of the first replacement crops to be introduced, especially theRoyal Kidney variety, and Mataró obtained aDenominació d'Origen in 1932.[6]Trocaderolettuce andpeas are also grown, mostly for export. The production of cut flowers is less important than in other towns of theMaresme. Irrigated land made up 9.13 square kilometres (3.53 sq mi) of the 10.57 square kilometres (4.08 sq mi) of agricultural land in the municipality in 1986 (47% of the municipal territory).
In modernviticulture, the redmourvèdre grape variety is a better-known synonym for the grape known in Spain, the U.S., and Australia as mataro. Mataró, the city, is thought to be the likely origin of mataro, the wine grape.
Several major events are celebrated annually in Mataró. Some of them are also celebrated in the rest ofCatalonia and others, which have a religious origin, are part of thefolklore andtraditions ofSpain and some other countries. Among all of them the most popular ones are:
The cagaTió: celebrated in Catalonia on Christmas' Eve, 24 December.
Mataró also celebrates several fairs such as:Tres Tombs andSaint Ponç. In May it is celebrated a fair called Mercat de Sant Ponç. At the fair handicraft products, medicinal herbs, natural products like: honey, cheese, fruits, flowers, jam and salami are sold. Sant Ponç is the patron saint of the herbalists and bee keepers. The fair has been done for centuries. Its origins date to the 16th century, when in Spring herbalists took medicine to the sick. Today Sant Ponç fair is celebrated to preserve the antique customs.
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