The Catalan Pyrenees
Consecrated in CE 888, Ripoll's monastery was Catalonia’s spiritual and cultural heart from the mid-10th to mid-11th century. The five-naved basilica was…
Must-see attractions in The Catalan Pyrenees
Catedral de Santa Maria & Museu Diocesà
The Catalan Pyrenees
Dominating La Seu d'Urgell's old town is the 12th-century, pale sandstone Santa Maria cathedral – one of Catalonia’s outstanding Romanesque buildings. Its…
The Catalan Pyrenees
On Taüll's fringes, this 12th-century Romanesque church is a gem not only for its elegant, simple lines and slender six-storey bell tower (which you can…
Monestir de Sant Joan de les Abadesses
The Catalan Pyrenees
Who gallops through the hills around Sant Joan de les Abadesses on stormy nights, on a horse engulfed in flames and accompanied by ravenous black dogs? If…
The Catalan Pyrenees
Some 6km northeast of Olot, Sant Joan les Fonts has some lovely forest just beyond the village centre. From the Oficina de Turisme, you can pick up…
The Catalan Pyrenees
The region's high point (literally and figuratively) is Núria's strangely austere 1911 sanctuary. A gold-and-pastel-painted passageway leads to its upper…
Centre d'Interpretació del Mite del Comte Arnau
The Catalan Pyrenees
The monastery's 14th-century Palau de l'Abadia houses a fascinating audiovisual exhibition tracing the source of the Count Arnau legend. Folk songs from…
The Catalan Pyrenees
The slender six-storey, 12th-century tower of Santa Eulàlia d'Erill la Vall, a 2.5km walk or drive west of Boí, once used for communications and valley…
Val d'Aran
Within the remarkably colourful frescoed walls of this 12th- and 13th-century church, gaze upon the haunting Romanesque form of the Crist de Salardú. This…
Monestir de Sant Joan les Fonts
The Catalan Pyrenees
Dating to the 12th century, this broad Romanesque riverside monastery is squirrelled away at the northern end of Sant Joan les Fonts, 6km northeast of…
The Catalan Pyrenees
Boí's 11th-century church gives the village an air of romance with its angular five-storey stone bell tower, which was restored after a major 13th-century…
The Catalan Pyrenees
With its tangle of slender cobbled lanes leading past flower-filled corners and pottery workshops to the attractive colonnaded Plaça Major, medieval Santa…
The Catalan Pyrenees
Aside from the hills, one of La Garrotxa's most remarkable geological sights is the town of Castellfollit de la Roca (10km northeast of Olot), teetering…
Val d'Aran
The black-roofed spire of Gothic Sant Miquèu church dominates Vielha's skyline. Its architectural styles span six centuries, including a 12th-century font…
The Catalan Pyrenees
In the middle of verdant Parc Nou (a botanical garden of Olot-area flora), this schoolroom-like museum has detailed displays on volcanoes, tremors,…
The Catalan Pyrenees
On the 3rd floor of a grand former hospice building, this smart, modern museum unpacks the evolution of La Garrotxa's industry, history, culture, art and…
Cerdanya
The lake at the north end of town was created during the 13th century for irrigation purposes. It's a pretty spot for a stroll: birds bob across its…
Cerdanya
Proudly occupying what's alleged to be Europe's oldest pharmacy (dating to 1415, it operated until 1926), this multi-language, multimedia museum explores…
Centre del Romànic de la Vall de Boí
The Catalan Pyrenees
Kick-start your architectural odyssey around the Vall de Boí's exquisite Catalan Romanesque churches with a visit to this multimedia interpretation centre…
Cerdanya
Though little more than walls remain of Llívia's ruined hilltop castle, it's worth the hefty 15-minute climb for the fabulously beautiful wraparound views…
Cerdanya
Though only the tower of the 17th-century Església de Santa Maria still stands, this stocky Romanesque structure dominates bustling Plaça Santa Maria…
Val d'Aran
Occupying a turreted, sparklingly refurbished old mansion, this interactive museum tells the tale of the Val d'Aran's history, from the first Bronze Age…
The Catalan Pyrenees
Up in Taüll's old centre, at the northwestern end of town, the 12th-century Romanesque Santa Maria church is crowned by a five-storey tower. As with many…
The Catalan Pyrenees
In the same building as and accessed via La Seu's tourist office, the town museum has multilingual displays on local history, including the 12th-centuy…
Església de Mare de Déu dels Àngels
Cerdanya
Llívia's 16th-century, late-Gothic church is encircled by three defensive towers and contains a Romanesque baptismal font.
Val d'Aran
This 12th- to 13th-century Romanesque church, with its three-storey belfry and triple apse, stands proudly in the midst of Arties' flower-festooned houses.
Cerdanya
This 13th-century Gothic church was wrecked multiple times over the course of its history, including a 15th-century earthquake and immense damage during…
Cerdanya
Within a much-modernised 19th-century Carmelite monastery are two floors of exhibitions with flavours of Cerdanya's agrarian past. The permanent…
Val d'Aran
The Refugi Rosta houses the entertaining private PyrenMuseu, which covers the history of tourism in Val d’Aran. Enter via the base of the old stone…
