Plana Novella is an old country estate and village located on a small plain in the middle of the Garraf Massif

Garraf Massif

The Garraf Massif is a mountain range of the Catalan Coastal Range, Catalonia, Spain. Its cliffs reach the Mediterranean waters. Its highest point on the coastal side is La Morella, 593 metres above sea level and further inland rises the higher, although less conspicuous, Montau .The Garraf Massif...

, National Park

National park

A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual nations designate their own national parks differently A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or...

, about three kilometers to the east of Jafra and within the municipal boundary of the town of Olivella

Olivella

Olivella is a village and municipality in Catalonia, in the province of Barcelona, Spain. It is situated in the comarca of Garraf.-History:The first known village in the area was founded in 992 around a castle known as Castell vell...

, Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

. It is notable for being in an almost uninhabited rural area, despite being about half an hour's drive from Barcelona

Barcelona

Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...

. It is also the location of a Tibetan Buddhist

Tibetan Buddhism

Tibetan Buddhism is the body of Buddhist religious doctrine and institutions characteristic of Tibet and certain regions of the Himalayas, including northern Nepal, Bhutan, and India . It is the state religion of Bhutan...

 retreat.

History

In 1885, the estate was acquired by Pere Domenech i Grau who built a large mansion, Palau Novella (Novella Palace), on it. Ten years later he went bankrupt and the estate was taken over by the Spanish government and reclassified as an agricultural colony.

The architectural style of the mansion is eclectic

Eclecticism

Eclecticism is a conceptual approach that does not hold rigidly to a single paradigm or set of assumptions, but instead draws upon multiple theories, styles, or ideas to gain complementary insights into a subject, or applies different theories in particular cases.It can sometimes seem inelegant or...

. It can be described as a "castle of props", as if it were the set of a theatre. The most original stylistic building of la Plana Novella is the courtyard in the Gaudi style, but one of the most characteristic and eye-catching elements is the lavatory, known as "the throne".

Rural depopulation has left many farmhouses in the area deserted, and the Park is almost uninhabited. However the area has seen a recent growth in second homes, and tourism is growing in importance in the village.

Since its foundation in 1996, the Sakya Tashi Ling Tibetan Buddhist monastery and community has been located in Plana Novella".