Sheltered by the Serra de Montsant and surrounded by silence and nature, the Escaladei chapterhouse in the Priorat is the oldest Carthusian monastery on the peninsula and currently the only one accessible to the public in Catalonia. Its foundation dates back to 1194, after a concession by Alfonso the Chaste to establish a settlement in newly conquered lands.
Last year, the renovation and roofing works of the old monastery church were concluded, which was left in ruins after the abandonment, plunder and destruction it suffered following the ecclesiastical confiscation of 1835. The architectural rehabilitation project was completed this year with the new museography inaugurated by the site, fully integrated, and with the immersive virtual reality experience The eyes of history, which transports the visitor back to the 17TH century through the voice and life experience of the creator of the church decoration, Joaquim Juncosa. The experience also allows visitors to find out more about the monks’ daily life thanks to the audiovisual installation Eternal silence, in the Chapterhouse for the Fathers.
A short distance away, the monastery castle of Escornalbou, in the Baix Camp, is another patrimonial element that has been handed down to the territory from the past. This monastery was supposedly built on a Saracen fortress, which was later rebuilt as the private residence of Eduard Toda. The diplomat and Egyptologist bought the monastery of Sant Miquel de Escornalbou in 1907 when he returned from his travels through China, Egypt, Sardinia and northern Europe, and made it his home, a meeting point for the main figures of the Renaissance.
Works are currently being completed to adapt the monastery castle, now converted into a museum house and exhibiting the legacy of Toda, such as his extensive library and samples of the collections he gathered during his travels. The visit includes a walk around the church, the chapterhouse and the cloister, which he turned into a garden offering one of the best views of the regions of Tarragona.
If you choose to visit these spaces as a family, it’s worth preparing for your visit by listening to Si les parets parlessin (If the walls could talk), the podcast that tells the curious stories of several monuments in the territory –among them, Escaladei and Escornalbou– and that gives a voice to characters from the past.
