Poblet is one of the most outstanding examples of Cistercian monasteries, summarized by Father Manrique in his work with the phrase "Populetum... toto orbe christiano nulli secundum".

From the beginning it was conceived that the monastery would cover an agricultural area of excellence, integrating in its territory several farms known as grangiae, which had abundant water, such as La Pena, and usable forests, as in the farm of the forest of Castellfollit; each of these farms was administered by a monk leading a family composed of laymen, rural guards, gardeners, among others, reaching seventeen farms at the end of the twelfth century. Poblet achieved self-sufficiency and was configured as a complete community in the style of Cîteaux and Clairvaux, since, in addition to the basic dependencies of any monastery, it had an infirmary, pharmacy, cemeteries, a garden of aromatic plants, mills, bakeries and even a dungeon, which reflected the feudal power of the abbot.

Likewise, the monastery came to own numerous Cistercian houses in the most important towns of the Crown of Aragon, including subsidiaries such as the Monastery of Piedra, that of Benifasar, that of La Real in Mallorca, the Priory of San Vicente in Valencia, that of Nazareth in Barcelona and that of Tallat on the border between Tarragona and Lérida; It extended its jurisdiction to seven baronies that included sixty villages, having also the right to designate the mayor or batlle of ten dependent villages and possessing lordships such as the Castle and village of Verdú and the Castle of Monargues, as well as enjoying grazing rights in royal lands, in the salt mines of Cardona and in the fisheries of Ampurias.