December is a good time to visit
Agramunt, famed for the nougat, known as
torró, made there. That's a good excuse for a visit that could take in the
Museu del Torró i la Xocolata, but there are many more. We start at the
Espai Guinovart, a contemporary art centre, founded by
Josep Guinovart himself in 1994, where his works are exhibited. In October a
collective exhibition, Llàgrimes (tears), was opened. It focusses on the liquid secreted by the eyes, which features widely in the work of the artist.
We can soak up more contemporary creation at the
Lo Pardal Guillem Viladot Foundation, where the writer's
visual poems and poetic objects can be admired. Viladot's work can also be found in the open air at the
Riella park where a marked route leads you through his rich and fabulous artistic and poetical world. A creative universe under the spotlight this year, it being a
hundred years since he was born, an event marked by the travelling exhibition
Guillem Viladot i els creadors de Ponent, which will arrive in Cervera in December.
And you shouldn’t leave Agramunt before visiting the
church of Santa Maria, of
Romanesque origins but with a
Gothic bell tower, or the
Pilar d’Almenara, an iconic defence tower built during the 11th and 12th centuries to warn against incursions by the Moors. If you climb to the top you will be rewarded with a
panoramic view of the plain of Urgell.
From Agramunt we go to
Penelles where more contemporary art can be enjoyed. Over the course of three days during the
Gargar Mural and Rural Art Festival in this town, artists paint the walls and facades and the resulting works can be visited throughout the year.
From Penelles we go to
Tarròs, in
Tornabous. This is where
Lluís Companys was born and there is an
interpretation centre that provides information about him and his political work as
president of the Generalitat. The exhibition has interactive displays that make this politician more accessible to visitors through material usually found in archives.
The excursion ends in the
Iberian settlement El Molí d’Espígol, which some think could be the
mythical settlement of Atanagrum, the former capital of the Ilergetes tribe, destroyed by Scipio during the Second Punic War, according to the chronicles of Polybius and Titus Livy. A surprising history.
An excursion proposed in collaboration with the magazine
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