Logbook · 6 places

What to see and do in Ribes de Freser

What to see and do in Ribes de Freser (Ripollès, Girona): 6 places across monuments, nature, activities and curiosities, with a photo and a Google Maps location.

1 Villages · 4 Monuments · 1 Historical milestones

How far each place is from the centre of Ribes de Freser

Towns near Ribes de Freser

What to see in Campelles 2.4 km · 2 places
What to see in Pardines 3.9 km · 3 places
What to see in Queralbs 4.7 km · 8 places
What to see in Planoles 5.4 km · 2 places
What to see in Gombrèn 8.8 km · 8 places
What to see in Campdevànol 8.9 km · 4 places
What to see in Ogassa 10 km · 2 places
What to see in Ripoll 12 km · 13 places

Spain › Catalonia › Girona › Ripollès › Ribes de Freser

What to see and do in Ribes de Freser

Ribes de Freser
Village
Ribes de Freser is a town in the Ripollès district, in the province of Gerona, situated north of Ripoll, at the confluence of the Freser, Rigard and Segadell rivers, at an altitude of 1,092 metres. Until 1916 it was simply called Ribas, and today it also includes the settlements of Bruguera and Ventolà, with a combined population of 1,841. It is surrounded by Pyrenean mountains, among which the Taga peak, at 2,040 metres, and the Serra d'Estremera stand out. The town is the starting point of the rack railway that climbs to the Vall de Núria via Queralbs, run by the Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat, and it is linked to Ripoll and Puigcerdà by the N-152 road and by the R3 commuter rail line. In the municipality the natural mineral water Aigua de Ribes is bottled, sourced from a local spring.
Castle of Ribes de Freser
Monument
Remains of the castle of Ribes de Freser, the historical head of the Vall de Ribes, popularly known as Castell de Sant Pere. It belonged to the counts of Cerdanya from 1069 and later passed to the House of Barcelona. It stands on the slopes of the Puig Cornador, northeast of the town, from where one overlooks the confluence of the Freser, Segadell and Rigard rivers that give the settlement of Ribes de Freser its name.
Santa Maria de Ribes
Monument
Documented since the early 11th century; destroyed in 1936, it preserves from the original Romanesque church three apses with Lombard arcading and sawtooth frieze, today side chapels, and the Baroque bell tower. The current church, the work of the architect Josep Danés, was rebuilt between 1940 and 1945 with parabolic arches inside and, outside, a slate roof with dormer windows typical of mountain civil architecture. In one of the Romanesque apses a replica of the Baldaquí de Ribes was placed, an important Romanesque panel painting whose original is kept in the Museu Episcopal de Vic. Also notable are the mural paintings of the main apse and those of the chapel of the Santíssim (Blessed Sacrament), the work of Llucià Navarro (1970).
Castle of Pena
Monument
The Castell de Pena is what remains of a castle situated between the municipal terms of Ogassa and Ribes de Freser (Ripollès, Gerona), on the puig de Sant Amanç; today only the place name and a heap of stones survive, and its history is known only through documentary records. It is first recorded in 1024, when its lord was Joan Oriol, who in 1073 ceded the parish and the castle to the monastery of Sant Joan de les Abadesses, while retaining the castellany for himself. The Oriol family kept rights over the castle, while the castellany passed to the Espasén family, which acknowledged the lordship of the abbots. In 1334 abbot Ramon de Bianya entrusted the bailiwick of the district to Pere de Ribes, at which point the castle lost its former importance. It is declared a Bien Cultural de Interés Nacional (Catalonia's highest level of heritage protection).
Castle of Segura
Monument
The Castell de Segura stands on the hill known as 'el Castell', at 1142 m above Ribes de Freser; documented since 1207, when Hug de Nevà swore fealty to Ramon de Ribes for the castles of Ribes and Segura, its history is bound up with that of the latter. In 1374, during the Pyrenean offensive of the infante Jaume de Mallorca, it played a significant role and was repaired and garrisoned; a report from 1390 already describes it as badly deteriorated. The last mention dates from 1493, when Damià Descatllar reminded King Ferdinand the Catholic that he had pledged it along with the Ribes valley. Today only fallen fragments of wall and tower survive, along with a 6x4 m cistern with a barrel vault. Bien Cultural de Interés Nacional (BCIN 1362-MH, Catalonia's highest level of heritage protection).
The inauguration of the Núria rack railway
Historical milestone
The Núria rack railway, inaugurated on 22 March 1931, is the twelve-and-a-half-kilometer railway line that overcomes a height difference of one thousand fifty-nine meters between Ribes de Freser, Queralbs and the sanctuary of Núria, in the Ripollès. Together with the Montserrat rack railway, it is one of only two rack railway lines in Spain. Since Queralbs is the highest point in the valley reachable by road, the rack railway is the only way, apart from the mountain path, to reach the sanctuary and the Núria ski resort, as no road reaches the valley; the route has four stations — Ribas-Enlace, Ribes-Vila, Queralbs and Núria — and the optional halt of Rialb.