la Vilella Baixa: what to see, where to eat and wineries

La Vilella Baixa is known as the "New York of the Priorat", a nickname coined by the writer Josep Maria Espinàs, because the steep riverbank forced houses seven and eight storeys tall, their main entrances often on the fourth or fifth floor; from the riverbed the façades look like skyscrapers. It sits at the confluence of the Montsant river and the Escaladei stream, at the foot of the Montsant massif. Highlights include the stone bridge of medieval origin, whose two original arches were joined by a third added in 1886, and the Carrer que no passa, the oldest street in the village, a medieval lane beneath a pointed-arch portal with defensive loopholes. The 18th-century, three-nave church of Sant Joan Baptista stands on the Plaça de l'Església.

It is a DOQ Priorat wine village and the southern gateway to the Serra de Montsant Natural Park, with several hiking trails. It once had over 1,000 inhabitants in the late 19th century, a figure that fell to 150 by the 1990s due to phylloxera and industrialization; today it has around 200. The main festival takes place around Pentecost, and Saint Quiteria's day is celebrated on 22 May.

Sources: ca.wikipedia.org · turismepriorat.org

Photo: Escut_de_la_Vilella_Baixa.svg: Xavigivax derivative work: Moríñigo (talk) · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons