What did it mean to live along the Upper Border of Al-Andalus and the Catalan counties? The Noguera Museum explains how the county was impacted socially, ideologically and culturally, and especially the city of Balaguer, which preserves one of the most important heritage sites of Catalonia and one of the benchmarks of the peninsula.  

Using the archaeological materials exhibited, it shows the nature of the culture of the Andalusian world, set apart from the feudal world represented by the county of Urgell. And in 1105 the count of Urgell conquered Balaguer and this would be a turning point for the city.

Of note in the collection are the remains coming from the site of Pla d’Almatà from the Andalusian era. They allow us to build a story on how life was in the Muslim quarter (“medina”) of Balaguer from its origins to the 8th century, when it was a military camp, until it became a prosperous city where Muslims, Christians and Jews lived together. You can see ceramics, a basin and even surgical or cosmetic tools from this time period.

The museum also dedicates an area to the hisn (castle) of Balaguer which represents the centre of power, both in Andalusian times and in the era of the counts. It shows the plasterwork that decorated the Taifa palace (11th century), one of the few sites with Islamic architecture in that period in the Iberian peninsula. It also shows some decorative and domestic items from the period in which the hisn became the palace of the counts of Urgell.