An Old Oak Tree
When, way back in 1498, Javier Codorniu bought the land that he would turn into the first vineyards of Sant Sadurni d'Anoia, the single greatest feature of his purchase was a hundred-year-old oak tree. In the following centuries, a good number of the surrounding country's business deals were solemnly sworn in the shade of the grand old tree. They say that in those days a witnessed handshake was as cast iron a guarantee as anyone could expect. By the time the first cava was bottled in 1872, the tree had become the symbol of the Raventos i Blanc family that ran the winery, and also of the Can Codorniu farm. For Manuel Raventos, the grandson of the original producer of the farm's cava, protecting the ancient oak has taken priority even over the business of winemaking. After around 600 years, the grand old oak tree of Can Codorniu is not only in good health, it's even growing!

Measure for Measure
Have a close look at the external wall of the Romanesque Capella de Santa Llucia. At about waist level you can make out the inscription 'A 2 Canas lo Pou'. The cana was a unit of measurement (eight palms or 1.55m) once in common use by tailors. Apparently a well (pou) was situated about 3m from where you stand. If you inspect the corner of the same building, you'll notice two vertical grooves etched into the stone – they measure two canas. The story goes that if, after having bought some material, you discovered you had been cheated by the tailor, you could search for the local gendarmes who in turn would have the good salesman accompany them to this spot to verify whether the cana he was using gave the full measure. Of course, the tailor may have kept an instrument with a proper cana hidden away for just an occasion.

Little White Wonder
When a group of Guineans stumbled across a trembling white baby gorilla in the jungle in 1963 they thought they'd contact a white man, Jordi Sabater. Sabater, a naturalist working in what was then Spanish-controlled Guinea, could hardly believe his eyes. Or his ears when the Guineans named a price of 20,000 ptas (a substantial sum in those days) in exchange for their prize. The baby gorilla had been orphaned by hunters and Sabater struck a deal. He would look after the little white animal and, if it survived, would buy it. And so it was. Offered a million dollars to transfer it to Canada, he opted for his hometown of Barcelona, where Snowflake arrived in November 1996. In his early 40s, he is getting on (gorillas tend not to live longer than 50 years) but his zoo guardians are confident that, in their care, he will have a long innings.

How Do You Like The Apples?
Despite the Catalanisation of most Barcelona names in recent decades, the Manzana de la Discordia has kept its Spanish name to preserve a pun on manzana, which means both 'block' and 'apple'. According to Greek mythology, the original Apple of Discord was tossed onto Mt Olympus by Eris (Discord), with orders that it be given to the most beautiful goddess, sparking jealousies that helped start the Trojan War. The pun won't transfer into Catalan, whose word for block is ilia, and for apple poma.

Black & White
In 2001 researchers discovered that La Moreneta, the Black Virgin venerated by Catalans for centuries, is actually white. The Romanesque figure, it appears, was painted black in the early 19th century, partly because over the centuries candle smoke and dust had darkened the virgin's original pallid 'skin tone'. According to the tradition, the statuette had been black - an unusual choice of colour in Christian iconography for the Virgin Mary - since it was made in the 12th century. So much for that piece of tradition. Church authorities have decided to let her be as she is - black on the outside and white on the inside.