www.grandtourcatalunya.com ITINERARY 7 MONTBLANC - GANDESA (185 KM) Regions: Conca de Barberà / Priorat / Ribera d’Ebre / Terra Alta 1. Montblanc To see Itinerary 7 begins in the town of Montblanc, capital of the Conca de Barberà region. You will appreciate the Prades Mountains and the Montsant Natural Park. You will continue to visit the Priorat region and cross the Ribera d’Ebre region. Finally you will reach the region of Terra Alta, wine lands of great quality and high alcohol content! Montblanc has about 7,500 inhabitants. It is one of the most outstanding medieval ci- ties of Catalunya Nova. It has an unmistakable profile for its walled enclosure (12th Cen- tury) which is a masterpiece of medieval military fortification. It is perfectly preserved with its thirty-four towers. With four entrances or bastions, corresponding to the four cardinal points of access to the medieval walled enclosure plus a fifth portal for use of civil authority. Of course, it is best to stroll through the historic center and stop at some of the many medieval monuments of civil, religious or military style: The Royal Palace, Old Bridge, Mill of the Cures and several splendid noble mansions and palaces, public baths etc. The majestic and basilical Church of Sta. Maria la Major (14th Century), the old church of St. Marçal (14th Century). And a long etc. the river Francolí crosses the town. Visit the Town Hall website: www.montblanc.cat. Accommodation Masia del Cadet (L’Espluga de Francolí)*** 2. Monastery of Poblet To see When leaving Montblanc you must take the N 240 to L’Espluga de Francolí and there take the T 700 that will take you to the Monastery of Poblet, second station in your Iti- nerary. The Cistercian monastery of Santa Maria de Poblet is a history book made with stones. It was founded in the 12th Century by Ramon Berenguer IV Count of Barcelona and King of Aragon on the land ceded to the Monastery of Fontfroide in Llenguadoc for this purpose. The monks dedicated themselves to the vineyard, oil and the exploitation of 1/8 www.grandtourcatalunya.com the immense forests of the Mountains of Prades. Over the centuries, they built a mo- numental walled set, a true museum of the art of building all styles and their overall figure is very beautiful. Protected by the Kings of the Crown of Aragon and Catalonia, it became the mausoleum of the Catalan dynasty. It is necessary to make a leisurely visit and contemplate the many pieces that compose this book of history made of stones: the various Doors, the palace of the King Martí, the Gothic cloister with a beautiful stone pavilion with the source of the ablutions, the chapter room, the Romanesque church, the cellar etc. At the beginning of the 19th Century, it suffered unfortunate devastation and an irreparable looting of stones and books. During the 20th Century and thanks to private and public initiative it was reformed in its entirety and now once again has ac- tive monastic life, architectural splendor and spiritual, social and tourist projection. We take pride in saying that Poblet is a World Heritage Site, declared by UNESCO. Visit the Monastery website: www.poblet.cat. Accommodation Hostatgeria de Poblet (Vimbodí) 3. Prades To see At the end of your stay at the Monastery of Poblet you will take the TV 7002 to Vimbodí, you will follow the TV 7004 in the direction of Vilanova de Prades and there TV 7005 until reaching the town of Prades. Forest. During the journey you will have passed through a good part of the mountains of Prades that are an extensive forest mass that covers the greater part of the territory, except some fields of cereal cultivation and hazelnuts. Above all you will see oak trees of different types, oaks, kermes oaks, pine trees and holly. You will also find chestnuts that produce vinegar and yellowish spots when autumn arrives. Prades. It is a small village, with narrow and wavy and winding streets typical of medieval architecture. The porched square, the church of Santa Maria la Major (12th Century) with reddish stone, the castle and the rest of the walls are the most remarkable elements. In the square is the well-known Renaissance Fountain of reddish stone and spherical sha- pe with four fountains that indicate the four cardinal points. It has become the symbol of the village. Visit the Town Hall website: www.prades.cat. 2/8 www.grandtourcatalunya.com 4. Siurana To see Taking the T 701 you will leave the village of Prades until you reach the C 242 that will take you to Cornudella de Montsant. You will have entered the Priorat region. To your right you will see the majestic Serra de Montsant which is a Natural Park since 2002. From Cornudella de Montsant comes a road of 8 km which will take you up to Siurana. On the way you will see the ravines flanked by rock walls that are highly appreciated by rock climbers from all over the world. Siurana is a village placed under the tip of a rocky mountain that was once impregnable Saracen castle until the 12th Century. There are some important remains and a beautiful Romanesque church in its simplicity. The hou- ses of the street, of stone, lead to the prow of the mountain from which you can behold a total and impressive view of the Montsant mountain range and an extensive view of the Priorat region. At the bottom of the valley there is the Siurana River that forms a dam. The visit to Siurana is unforgettable… and nearly addictive! Accommodation La Siuranella (Siurana) *** 5. Escaladei To see Siurana is a dead end so you will return to Cornudella de Montsant taking the same road and in Cornudella you will take the TV 7021 in the direction of Escaladei. Escaladei was a Carthusian Monastery founded in the 12th Century, governed by a Prior and from which comes the name of all the current region of Priorat. Historically, the name of Priorat constituted the lands under the jurisdiction of the Carthusian prior and that initially were the municipal terms of six villages: Gratallops, Porrera, Vilella Alta, To- rroja, Poboleda and Morera de Montsant in addition to the Montsant mountain range. The monks of the Carthusian Monastery introduced the cultivation of wine and for cen- turies the rough lands of the Priory at the foot of Montsant, produced a large amount of wine of impressively high alcohol content. This is because the geology of the Priorat is primary formed by slates of easy decomposition that is called stone “llicorella” or slate. This is one of the factors, together with the mistral winds and the intense summer sun, which produce the strong and substantial wines of the Priorat. As we will find the slate throughout the route of the Priorat it is good to describe it with the inspired words of our writer Josep Pla: “The slate of Priorat have much more colour: next to the black tone, 3/8 www.grandtourcatalunya.com of a quality of shiny tar, appear ferruginous tones, rusty and shiny, warm and this produ- ces a mixture of blood in the process of coagulation”. It is essential to visit the Carthusia of Scaladei, reconstructed in part and make the circuit on foot that takes you to the Bonrepòs from where we will have a perfect view of the Montsant and the valley. The Montsant hermitages are famous - sixteen in total - that are accessible from several villages of the Priorat. If someone wants to do an excursion to one of these elevated her- mitages, the reward at the top is assured. The views of ravines, hills, valleys, cliffs, natural amphitheaters and forests are unforgettable. On the road to Escaladei you will have passed the village of Morera de Montsant, proud, bright and surrounded by the silence of the Montsant mountain range on its back. It is a popular starting point for excursions in the Montsant Natural Park trails, well signposted. Visit the Town Hall website: www.morera.altanet.org. 6. Porrera-Gratallops To see From Escaladei you will take the T 702 to Poboleda until you find the local road TP 7402 that will take you to Porrera and Gratallops passing through Torroja del Priorat. At this point we propose to drive patiently along the road that winds from Porrera to Gratallops to capture the landscape of the Priorat which is a wonderful combination of rough, broken, rocky, steep countryside but turned into a kind of garden of olive trees, almond trees and above all of vineyards on all the geometric surfaces imaginable: on terraces or on pieces of ground in the hollows but always uphill, steep climbing up the rocky slopes (llicorella or slate) of the mountains. In the seasons of summer and autumn this rough landscape becomes a fascinating picture of greenish or yellow, reddish, vine- gar colours depending on the season and the type of species of each vineyard. You will also see the countless dry stone walls on the slopes to turn them into flat terraces, giant work of dozens of generations of farmers. If you want to do a half-day excursion to the hermitage of the Mare de Déu de la Consolació (12th -15th Centuries), you will be able to admire a beautiful combination of colours, gardening, botany and geology. On the tour you will find well-designed wine cellars, to make a wine tasting and even spend the night surrounded by vineyards. Gratallops is a village that before the scourge of phylloxera was one of the richest villages in the region.