Logbook · 6 places

What to see and do in Aitona

What to see and do in Aitona (Segrià, Lleida): 6 places across monuments, nature, activities and curiosities, with a photo and a Google Maps location.

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

When to go to Aitona: festival calendar

March: Festival of la Floració (March 1-22)

How far each place is from the centre of Aitona

Towns near Aitona

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What to see in Torres de Segre 6.4 km · 2 places
What to see in Massalcoreig 9.1 km · 1 place
What to see in Sarroca de Lleida 9.4 km · 2 places
What to see in Alcarràs 9.4 km · 4 places
What to see in Fraga 9.4 km · 20 places
What to see in Torrente de Cinca 11 km · 7 places

Spain › Catalonia › Lleida › Segrià › Aitona

What to see and do in Aitona

Aitona
Village
Aitona is a town in the Segrià, in Lleida, with 2,591 inhabitants, famous for the blossoming of its peach trees in late winter. Its name comes from the Saracen castle that gave rise to the village, mentioned in 1120 and conquered in 1145 by Count Ermengol VI of Urgell; throughout the Middle Ages most of its inhabitants were Muslim, under their own legal regime in force until their expulsion in 1610. In 1233 the lordship passed to the Montcada family, who obtained the marquisate of Aytona in 1581. Of the castle, now in ruins, remains stand on the hill overlooking the town; near the centre rises the Romanesque sanctuary of Sant Joan de Carratalán, documented since 1168, built over a former mosque. The parish church of Sant Antolí, with its baroque façade, dates from the 18th century.
Castle of Aitona
Monument
A termenat castle that gives its name to the municipality of Aitona, in the Segrià. Of Muslim origin, in 1120 the alcaide ibn Hilal of Lleida ceded it to count Ramon Berenguer III, and between 1145 and 1149 it was definitively conquered by the Christians. In 1212 it passed to the Montcada family, who used it as a baronial residence until the 16th century, when they moved to the palace of Seròs; in 1722 the dukes of Medinaceli became lords of the barony. Romanesque in style, it preserves a quadrangular structure with circular corner towers, although greatly ruined: in the 18th century it was largely dismantled and its stone was used to build the church of Sant Antolí.
Castle of Carratalà
Monument
The remains of the castle of Carratalà stand on the summit and slope of an elongated hill, one kilometre from the village of Aitona, in the Segrià, and are declared a national cultural asset (Catalonia's highest level of heritage protection). It was a fortification of Islamic origin (a hisn), contemporary with the castle of Aitona, next to which a settlement of the same period extended. Of the enclosure, almost 150 metres long and a little more than 15 wide, sections of wall up to 2.5 metres high built with ashlar blocks survive, along with remains of rectangular-plan dwellings attached to the wall. Burials with slabs and Muslim pottery from the 11th and 12th centuries have also been found. The place name Carratalà comes from the Arabic qala, which designates a type of fortress with an associated settlement.
Festival of la Floració
Activity
The spectacle of the blossoming of the peach, nectarine and plum trees at the end of winter, with fruit tourism routes and an agri-food fair.
Peach of Aitona
Curiosity
Flagship fruit of the comarca, the star of the blossoming fields of Aitona and of the fruit-growing economy of the Segrià.
Marquisate of Aitona
Historical milestone
The title of baron of Aitona, originally granted by Peter the Catholic to his illegitimate daughter, the infanta Constanza of Aragon, passed by marriage to the Montcada family, in whose hands it remained for nearly five centuries. Charles I raised it to a county in 1523, and in 1581 the title was raised to a marquisate in favour of Francisco de Montcada y de Cardona, lieutenant of the Principality and of Valencia; in 1670 Charles II granted the grandeeship of Spain to Miguel Francisco de Montcada. The seigneurial jurisdiction extended, besides Aitona, to Seròs, Vila-seca and Algorfa, and its holders occupied viceroyalties and embassies of the Hispanic monarchy; in 2018, with the succession of the fourteenth marchioness in the female line, the title passed to the German princely house of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, based in Madrid.