The town was founded in the middle of the 12th century as a result of the decline of Olèrdola, which had been until then the main local centre. It was established as the seat of a vegueria in 1304. The Corts were held in the town in 1218 under King James I of Aragon, and again in 1358–59 and in 1367. King Peter III of Aragon died while staying at the royal palace in Vilafranca in 1285. Vilafranca is the birthplace of Raymond of Penyafort, O.P., a Catalonian Dominican (O.P.) friar born around 1175. St. Raymond compiled the Decretals of Gregory IX, a collection of canon law that remained the major corpus of canon law in the Roman Catholic Church until the 1917 and 1983 Codes of Canon Law. He was also instrumental in the founding of the Mercedarian Friars.
The gothic church of Santa Maria, the royal palace (Palau Reial) and the Palau Balta, are situated in the historic town centre. The Palau Reial, from the thirteenth century houses the town museum, with collections of archeology, paleontology, ornithology, ceramics and sacred art, and a Museum dedicated to Wine (Vinseum).
Other notable monuments include the church of Sant Joan, the convent of Sant Francesc and a number of old merchants' houses such as the Palau del Fraret, Palau Macià, the Casal dels Gomà and the Casal del Marquès d'Alfarràs.
Vilafranca del Penedès has grown steadily at the expense of the more rural areas of Alt Penedès, aided by its excellent transport links and by the strength of the local economy (particularly the wine industry).
Four outlying villages are included within the municipality of Vilafranca del Penedès (populations as of 2005):
- El Bordellet (9)
- El Molí d'en Rovira (166)
- Perepau (87)
- Les Salines (85)
- Panareda Clopés, Josep Maria; Ríos Calvet, Jaume; Rabella Vives, Josep Maria (1989). Guia de Catalunya, Barcelona: Caixa de Catalunya. ISBN 84-87135-01-3 (Spanish). ISBN 84-87135-02-1 (Catalan).
- Enciclopèdia catalana bàsica (Ed. El Periódico), Barcelona, 1996.