Torroja del Priorat: what to see, where to eat and wineries

Torroja del Priorat is a tiny hillside village at the center of the Siurana valley that hosts the headquarters of the DOQ Priorat regulatory council. Its name comes from a red tower that once stood there, remnants of which survive on the main street, with reddish stones still visible on some facades. Its narrow streets are paved with bluish Siurana river pebbles and it is surrounded by slate terraces. With around 137 residents (2024), it is one of the smallest villages in the comarca.

Its most notable building is the neoclassical church of Sant Miquel, with an 18th-century Baroque organ built by Jean Pierre Cavaller, one of Catalonia's historic organs, played each summer as part of Catalonia's historic organ concert season. Each May, on the Saturday before the second Sunday, the Jocs Florals poetry competition is held, drawing poets from across Catalan-speaking territories, and on September 29 the village celebrates its festa major, dedicated to Sant Miquel. The village is also home to the small private Joan Pàmies museum of agricultural tools and winemaking equipment (visits by appointment), and to the studio of local sculptor Montserrat Aixalà i Blasco.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · ca.wikipedia.org · turismepriorat.org

Photo: Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0