Logbook · 6 places

What to see and do in Vila-sana

What to see and do in Vila-sana (Pla d'Urgell, Lleida): 6 places across monuments, nature, activities and curiosities, with a photo and a Google Maps location.

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

How far each place is from the centre of Vila-sana

Church of Vila-sana 50 m

Towns near Vila-sana

What to see in Golmés 3.2 km · 6 places
What to see in Castellnou de Seana 3.8 km · 4 places
What to see in el Palau d'Anglesola 4.1 km · 7 places
What to see in Mollerussa 4.6 km · 12 places
What to see in Ivars d'Urgell 5 km · 6 places
What to see in Fondarella 5.5 km · 7 places
What to see in Linyola 5.7 km · 7 places
What to see in Vilanova de Bellpuig 6.1 km · 4 places

Spain › Catalonia › Lleida › Pla d'Urgell › Vila-sana

What to see and do in Vila-sana

Vila-sana
Village
Vila-sana is a municipality in the Pla d'Urgell, in the province of Lleida, with 753 inhabitants, situated a few kilometres from Mollerussa. Together with neighbouring Ivars d'Urgell it shares the estany d'Ivars i Vila-sana, the largest lake by surface area in Catalonia, restored in 2009 after years of drainage and now a natural area with bird-watching sites. The village was called Utxafava until 1930 and became an independent municipality in 1933 by splitting off from Castellnou de Seana, when the new name was adopted to leave behind the reputation for unhealthiness carried by the old pond. Its heritage includes the hermitage of the Mare de Déu de la Cabeza, with an image brought from Andújar by the Duchess of Sessa, the church of Sant Miquel, and the 18th-century farmhouse of Cal Senyor.
Church of Vila-sana
Monument
The church of Sant Miquel de Vila-sana, on the plaça de l'Església, is a simple religious building, without ornamentation, with an asymmetrical façade shared with the rectory and a square-plan bell tower with round-arched openings. Its origin dates back to a chapel from around 1130 in Utxafava, documented as the church of Sant Miquel in 1159, within the bishopric of Vic. The present building was begun on 6 June 1784 under the direction of Joan Ponsich, and was completed and blessed in 1970. Looted during the Civil War, its images burned, it was rebuilt between 1941 and 1962.
Nature Reserve of the Estany d'Ivars i Vila-sana
Nature
A wetland restored between Ivars d'Urgell and Vila-sana, one of the largest projects to restore a lake in Catalonia: drained in 1951 as part of an agricultural drainage plan, against the will of the population, it took four decades to begin recovering, with a protocol signed in 1993, a managing consortium set up in 2002 and refilling completed in 2009. It covers 126 hectares, with 2.4 cubic hectometres of water and a maximum depth of 3.8 metres, making it the largest lake in Catalonia together with that of Banyoles. More than 225 bird species have been observed, including the bearded reedling, an endangered species, and the area has 25 islands and nature trails.
Vila-sana Winter Main Festival
Activity
Vila-sana's Festa Major d'Hivern is held beside the estany d'Ivars i Vila-sana, a drained lagoon that the two town councils agreed to restore in 1993 and whose refilling, after buying the land and carrying out the works, was completed in 2009 with 126 hectares of wetland recovered.
Festivities of invierno de Vila-sana
Activity
Vila-sana's winter festival is held beside the estany d'Ivars i Vila-sana, whose refilling, following the restoration protocol signed by the two town councils in 1993, was completed in 2009 with 126 hectares of wetland recovered.
Restoration of the Ivars i Vila-sana lagoon
Historical milestone
The estany d'Ivars i Vila-sana occupies an endorheic basin of millennial origin, formerly a shallow, brackish lagoon that used to dry up in summer, until the Canal d'Urgell, built in 1861, brought a steady supply of irrigation water and turned it into one of the largest lagoons in inland Catalonia, a centre of duck hunting and eel fishing for the neighbouring villages. A first attempt at draining it failed in 1914 due to the opposition of irrigators, but a later sanitation project managed to dry it in 1951, against popular will. On 19 February 1993 the town councils of Ivars d'Urgell and Vila-sana signed a protocol to restore it; after purchasing the plots and carrying out the works, the filling was completed in 2009, returning 126 hectares of wetland to the plain.