Romanesque weekend: counties of Tarragona | Cultural Heritage. Goverment of Catalonia.

Getaways



1. L'Assumpció de Gandesa
2. Castell de Miravet (Autor: Josep Giribet)
3. Arc de Berà (Autor: Bob Masters)
4. Monestir de Santa Maria de Poblet (Autor: Josep Giribet)

Route map

Romanesque weekend: counties of Tarragona

Monastic and warrior Romanesque
When thinking about the heritage of Tarragona, Roman legacy inevitably comes to mind. However the rich Tarragonan monument goes much further beyond that. The best example? The personality of the Cistercian style, based upon Romanesque art.

THE FRONT OF THE BATTLE

We recommend you to begin on a stage that has been testimony to numerous struggles: the Terra Alta has survived the Carlist Wars and the Battle of the Ebre. Thanks to this, we can still see the church of the Assumption in Gandesa and its Romanesque entrance way with the unparalleled "signature" of the Lleidan school.

High on a hill above the Ebre one approaches the ancient home of the Templars. The imposing Miravet castle fused Muslim and Byzantine details with the Romanesque style transitioning to the Gothic. Your point of destination is Siurana where you will find the castle that was the last Muslim stronghold in Catalonia. Very close by, however, evidence has been found of even earlier inhabitants: very sharp flint stones by prehistoric man!

THE OLD TÀRRACO

The wall, the amphitheatre and the arch of Berà are testimony to the centuries of Roman influence in the area of Tàrraco. The enviable patrimony of ancient Rome was testimony to the conquest of the city by Ramon Berenguer III in the 12th century, and of the construction of the future Cathedral. This temple dedicated to Santa Maria is the jewel of the high part of Tarragona. From the exterior you can see the sarcophagus of Bethesda, a fourth century Paleochristian vestige integrated into the wall.

THE LAND OF THE CISTERCIANS

It is time to immerse yourself in the Cistercian world, that of a religious order to which two of the country's most remarkable monasteries belong. Poblet is an open history book: a mausoleum of the kings of Aragon in the past, currently it is the only Catalan monastery declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

Very close by, Santes Creus represents the most authentic Cistercian style of the area. It is the only monastery of the so-called Cistercian Route that is no longer home to monastic life. Here rest the mortal remains of Pere el Gran and Roger of Llúria, two of the architects of the supremacy of the Crown of Aragon in the Mediterranean at the end of the 13th century.


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