It was the site of the Universitat de Barcelona for some 150 years after the War of the Spanish Succession. The urban legend says that the new king Philip V wanted to reward the town for its fidelity to his party, so asked the town principals what sort of recompense they wished for. They replied they wanted a sea port (the province is land locked and some 300 km from the nearest sea). Instead, the king awarded them the university of the rebel Barcelona.