Activities

In this peaceful place sheltered by the Montsant chain of mountains, the Carthusian monks followed a way of life in which silence and prayer prevailed, combining the solitude of hermits with the protection offered by living as a community. The charterhouse was founded in 1194 thanks to land ceded by Alfonso I so that a settlement could be established on the newly conquered territory. Subsequent donations and purchases turned the charterhouse into a major ‘feudal lord’, as it ultimately came to own an extensive estate that coincides with the district of El Priorat today.

Escaladei was the first charterhouse in the Iberian Peninsula and played a part in the founding of many others created later. Beginning in the first half of the 19th century, the seizure of lands belonging to the Church and looting during uprisings resulted in the abandonment and neglect of the charterhouse, which fell into ruins. Recent works, however, have revealed some of its splendour, which can be appreciated in the new space open to visitors, corresponding to the area set aside for the monks’ communal life.

This guided tour of the monument provides an opportunity to learn about the most impressive parts of the charterhouse and about the life of Carthusians.