Siurana: what to see, where to eat and wineries

Siurana is a tiny village, perched on a cliff between the Montsant massif and the Prades mountains, overlooking the valley and reservoir of the Siurana river. It was the last Muslim enclave to fall to the Christians in Catalonia, reconquered in 1153; a memorial cross, erected in 1953, marks the 800th anniversary. Of the Arab castle that once stood there, built around the 9th century as a centre of territorial control, the perimeter and some defensive towers can still be made out; over the years it was also used for dowry exchanges and as a prison. It also keeps a 12th-13th-century Romanesque church of Santa Maria, with a single nave and semicircular apse, and a carved tympanum above the entrance.

Today it is world-famous for sport climbing on its limestone walls, popularised since the 1970s by local pioneer Toni Arbonès, with routes up to grade 9b+ such as the celebrated "La Rambla". The rock known as La Trona offers some of the most spectacular views in the Priorat, while the cliff known as the Salt de la Reina Mora ("the Moorish Queen's Leap") is the setting of a legend about a Muslim princess said to have thrown herself off rather than surrender to the Christians.

The village has only about twenty inhabitants and sits at 533 metres above sea level. It can be reached on foot from Cornudella de Montsant along a restored old path, and offers a hotel-restaurant, a mountain refuge, a campsite and a climbing centre for visitors.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · turismepriorat.org

Photo: Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0