Medieval Village Tour

We booked a small group tour that would take us on a 10.5 hour tour of three of Catalonia's medieval towns.  It was a long day but really enjoyed the experience.

The first place we visited was Besalu' a magnificent example of a beautifully preserved medieval town.  First mentioned in 894 Besalu' is Latin and a rough translation would be "fort on a mountain between two rivers".  Most of the buildings we see today are from the 11th - 14th centuries and access to the village is by an 11th century fortified bridge that crosses the Fluvia River.

Placa Libertat is the central square in Besalu' and today is full of local craft, specialty food and souvenir shops as well as several restaurants and cafes.

Our next stop was Rupit, a wonderful little village built from local stone.  The village was built under the rock face where Rupit castle has stood since 968 (rock face and remnants of castle wall behind the village in photo) but most of the buildings are from the 16th and 17th centuries.  The word for rock in Latin is "rupes" and this is the origin of the castle and village's name.

One of the tiny squares in the village. All the buildings, roads and walkways are made from the local stone which gives it a truly medieval feel. The tower in the background is part of Sant Mequel church built in the17th century.  Tourism is now it's main industry as many visitors come to hike the hills around the town.

Our last stop was to a tiny village of Tavertet with only 48 homes but its claim to fame is the 11th century Romanesque church of Sant Cristolfol.  To be honest, I think the only reason they added this stop was to give us a pee break before heading back to Barcelona.  Overall, Rita and I enjoyed walking around the first two villages and getting out into the countryside.