A brief history - From 1700 to 1900

The War of Succession (1700-1714) also affected the citizens of Sitges; as they continually had to suffer the soldiers on both sides who robbed them, demanded food, shelter...
It was also a time of pirates and bandits (travellers were assaulted on the paths following the coast of Garraf)… however Sitges was able to overcome these hardships and continue to grow. As a consequence of repeated pirate attacks stone farmhouses, "masias", were fortified and watchtowers added. (See examples of fortified "masias" along the paths in the natural park of Garraf.) A frigate was built as defence against pirates and was moored below "La Punta", a rocky outcrop where the parish church stands today. This area is still known as “La Fragata”. The canon currently set into the "Baluard", is a reminder of the six canons that used to be mounted on the bastion, which, in 1797 succeeded in preventing some British frigates from capturing a boat anchored in front of La Punta. The 1778 Free Trade Act with America enabled many Sitges citizens to emigrate to the new continent and conduct import and export business. Those who were successful, upon their return were called "Americanos".
The reconstruction of the parish church of "Sant Bartomeu i Santa Tecla" (known as "La Punta"), replaced the previous building destroyed during the bombing of 1649. The new church was consecrated in 1672 and was completed in 1688, although it wasn't until a century later when the belfry was topped with a statue of the Virgin Mary.
The current Sanctuary of our Lady of Vinyet underwent major reforms between 1727 and 1733. There are documents that date it back to the 12th century and confirm the chapel is located in the same spot, where tradition says an image of the Virgin of Vinyet was found (under a vine, hence the name "Vinyet", typical of Sitges). Two wealthy Sitges families who made their fortune in maritime trade and by reinvesting their profits in land, the Llopis and the Falç families, furthered the urban growth of Sitges with the construction of an "eixample", an extension of the town in a grid fashion, creating the streets of Sant Josep, Sant Bonaventura y Sant Gaudenci (the "Museu Romàntic" also called Casa Llopis) is on Sant Josep.

Wars continued during the nineteenth century (the Peninsula War 1808-1814, the three Carlist wars that ended by 1876...), and despite the unrest Sitges strove to make improvements: the old chapel of San Sebastian was torn down and a new one completed in 1861, improvements were made to the parish church, the porch, an extension, the belfry with the clock from the "Torre de las Hores" destroyed in the 1868 revolution...

Closer ties were forged with the Americas thanks to business, social and cultural relations, especially with Cuba and Puerto Rico. "Americanos" was the name give to the Sitgetans who returned to Sitges after making their fortune overseas. Around the village there are examples of the beautiful villas that these "americanos" built to prove that they had been successful. They also invested part of their profits in banking, industry, vineyards, recreational societies, and railways... Nowadays, during the Festa Major of Sitges, two of the “gegants” (tall figures with painted papier maché head and arms, and a hollow wooden frame covered in clothing) are endearingly called “los cubanitos” and represent the "americanos" that played such an important role in the development of Sitges. In Santiago de Cuba, Facundo Bacardí founded a company under his name which is known worldwide (Casa Bacardí is a visitors centre housed in the historic Mercat Vell, a Catalan Art Nouveau building in the heart of the old quarter.
The “Unión Suburense”, a spinning factory, was the first industry that was set up in Sitges (1847), “els boters” (cask-making or cooperage) was a very profitable business, the recreational society El Retiro was founded in 1870, the oldest one of its kind in Sitges (the headquarters can still be found on the same street)…

The end of the nineteenth century was a time of growth for Sitges, economically, culturally and communication-wise. The "Mercat Vell" (old market) was built, as was the "Ajuntament" (town-hall) and the "Nou Escorxador" (the abbatoir which has since disappeared). Palm trees were planted on the Passeig de la Ribera and Antonio Gaudí built the Celler Güell in Garraf. New industries were set in motion such as shoe manufacturing which was to become the economic motor of the town for many years. A gas factory produced gas for street lamps improving public illumination.  Drinking water was piped from Santa Oliva. Access and communication was improved by the opening of the corniche road along the Garraf coast, the building of a railway line that ran between Barcelona and Vilanova i la Geltrú and a telegraph station.

In 1877, the Casino Prado Suburense opened its doors. That same year Sitges' first newspaper, the Revista Suburense, was founded. Another paper, El Eco de Sitges, was published a decade later and is still in print nowadays and there was a third, La Voz de Sitges. Literary contests were held and in 1897 "els gegants de Sitges", the oldest "gegants" in Cataluña were paraded on the streets.  Sitges attracted many members of the artistic Luminist school (1880) and among them the most recognised painter at that time, Santiago Rusiñol, an artist of many disciplines and the driving force behind the Festes Modernistes (1892-1899).  He left an indelible mark on the Sitges landscape when he acquired two fishermen’s houses and converted them into the Cau Ferrat which would serve as both his studio, his home and is now a museum.