The hermitage of Sant Bartomeu de Fraguerau is a small Romanesque chapel with a single nave, semicircular apse and pointed barrel vault, set deep in the gorge the Montsant river cuts between the Serra de la Llena and the Montsant massif, within the Nature Park. It is an unusual example, this far south in Catalonia, of the traditional 12th-century religious architecture typical of Old Catalonia.
The gorge takes its name from Fra Guerau, a hermit documented around 1160 who lived under a rock overhang by the river and who, on 28 July 1192, obtained possession of the valley, where he founded two chapels — dedicated to the Virgin and to Saint Bartholomew — in a dwelling carved into the rock. In 1210 he passed the title to Pere Balb and Guillema, who established a women's community there that moved in 1215 to the monastery of Bonrepòs; the hermitage remained under Bonrepòs (confirmed by James II in 1292) until, when Bonrepòs disappeared, it passed to the Charterhouse of Scala Dei, whose coat of arms dated 1799 still sits above the door. Nearby, caves beneath large rock blocks sheltered Montsant's first eremitic community.
The gorge can be walked from Ulldemolins along the GR-65.5 trail, passing rock formations such as the Tres Jurats and the Roca Balladora and the Cadolles Fondes, potholes carved into the rock by the river; a small hanging footbridge crosses the river to reach the hermitage, where a bell tower added during a recent restoration crowns the building.
- Best forhiking, romanesque-heritage, nature
- OpeningErmita a l'aire lliure dins el congost; s'hi arriba a peu (uns 45 min per la GR-65.5).
- AddressCongost de Fraguerau, riu de Montsant, 43363 Ulldemolins
Imatge: Jordi Gili · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Sources: enciclopedia.cat · turismepriorat.org
Last updated: August 2026