Logbook · 5 places

What to see and do in Montferrer i Castellbò

What to see and do in Montferrer i Castellbò (Alt Urgell, Lleida): 5 places across monuments, nature, activities and curiosities, with a photo and a Google Maps location.

1 Villages · 2 Monuments · 1 Activities · 1 Historical milestones

How far each place is from the centre of Montferrer i Castellbò

Castle of Castellbò 6.4 km
Dovecote Towers of Montferrer 6.8 km

Towns near Montferrer i Castellbò

What to see in la Seu d'Urgell 2.9 km · 13 places
What to see in les Valls de Valira 4.6 km · 7 places
What to see in Ribera d'Urgellet 4.9 km · 4 places
What to see in Alàs i Cerc 6.7 km · 3 places
What to see in Estamariu 8.6 km · 2 places
What to see in Valls d'Aguilar 8.8 km · 2 places
What to see in Arsèguel 13 km · 5 places
What to see in Vansa i Fórnols 13 km · 3 places

Spain › Catalonia › Lleida › Alt Urgell › Montferrer i Castellbò

What to see and do in Montferrer i Castellbò

Montferrer i Castellbò
Village
The viscounty of Castellbò, today part of Montferrer i Castellbò, in the Alt Urgell, was the ancient capital of the county of Urgell and a focus of Cathar sympathies in the 13th century: Viscount Arnau sympathised with the Albigensians and was taken prisoner in 1203 together with his daughter's future father-in-law; the marriage of his daughter Ermessenda to Roger Bernat de Foix, in 1208, extended the domains of the viscounty, created in 1126, to neighbouring districts such as the Pallars Jussà. In Castellbò remain the ruins of its castle, documented in 998 and demolished in 1513 by Ferdinand the Catholic, and the old collegiate church of Saint Mary, founded in 1392 with a prior and seven monks until its disappearance in 1851. The viscounty disappeared in 1548, passing to the crown. The municipality, created in 1970, has 1,161 inhabitants.
Castle of Castellbò
Monument
The ancient capital of the viscounty of Castellbò, whose remains stand on a rocky terrace dominating the village, at 802 metres above sea level, at a place of obligatory passage between La Seu d'Urgell and the Pallars Sobirà. The viscounty was consolidated between 989 and 1126; in the 16th century the castle was pledged to the Oliver de Boteller family and in 1548 it was incorporated into the Crown. The fortress was demolished by order of Ferdinand the Catholic in 1513, although the attached chapel of Saint Peter and Saint Francis was pulled down centuries later. The settlement, once walled with two towers, today retains narrow, winding streets, 15th- and 16th-century houses and the large collegiate church that presides over the little square. Bien Cultural de Interés Nacional (Catalonia's highest level of heritage protection).
Dovecote Towers of Montferrer
Monument
Three Romanesque dovecote towers popularly known as the colomer de cal Gració, that of Tema, and that of Paraire, situated at the edges of the village of Castellbò, within the municipality. Square in plan, of rough stone bonded with mud, with the interior full of small nesting cells for raising pigeons; a medieval origin is attributed to them, though without documentation to confirm it. A Bien Cultural de Interés Nacional (Catalonia's top heritage-protection category).
Montferrer i Castellbò Main Festival
Activity
The Festa Major of Montferrer i Castellbò is celebrated in the former viscounty of Castellbò, a focus of Cathar sympathies in the 13th century, whose viscount Arnau and his daughter Ermessenda were accused of heresy; Ermessenda's marriage to Roger Bernat II de Foix in 1208 brought the rights over Andorra to the House of Foix. In Montferrer, the municipality's main settlement, built on a hill beside the river Segre, the Festa Major is held on the second-to-last Sunday of August and lasts three days, Saturday, Sunday and Monday. The municipality also celebrates the Festa Vella on the fourth Sunday of September, the feast of Sant Vicenç on 22 January when it falls on a working day, and that of Sant Josep on 19 March, with mass and, sometimes, festive events.
Viscounty of Castellbò and Catharism
Historical milestone
The viscounty was a focus of Cathar sympathies in the thirteenth century and the viscount Arnau de Castellbò and his daughter Ermessenda were accused of heresy. The marriage of Ermessenda to Roger Bernat II of Foix, in 1208, brought the rights over Andorra to the house of Foix.