Cabacés: what to see, where to eat and wineries

Cabassers (officially adopted name since 2024; also spelled Cabacés) stands on a hill in the north-west Priorat, at 358 m altitude, crossed by the Montsant river and bordering the Natural Park. It has around 296 inhabitants (2025) over a municipal area of 31.3 km². Its economy rests on olive oil (DOP Oli Siurana) and DO Montsant wine, with an Olive Oil Fair held every December.

It keeps the parish church of la Nativitat de la Mare de Déu — Gothic-Renaissance in style, built in the 17th century with its facade rebuilt in 1823 — which houses a retable attributed to Lluís Borrassà (around 1400), the church of Sant Joan Baptista, the Miquel Montagud Museum of Cabassers (dedicated to the local painter, 1897-1984), and the hermitages of Sant Roc and Mare de Déu de la Foia. The medieval Pont Vell bridge crosses the Montsant river. Of the castle, once head of the district, no visible remains survive: a school was built on its site in 1933 reusing its stones.

Historically it was the head of the episcopal Barony of Cabassers under the bishops of Tortosa, tracing back to the charter of settlement granted in 1185.

Sources: ca.wikipedia.org · cabaces.org · es.wikipedia.org

Photo: Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0