Logbook · 9 places

What to see and do in Roquetes

What to see and do in Roquetes (Baix Ebre, Tarragona): 9 places across monuments, nature, activities and curiosities, with a photo and a Google Maps location.

1 Villages · 1 Monuments · 1 Nature · 3 Activities · 2 Historical milestones · 1 Food and drink

How far each place is from the centre of Roquetes

Church of Roquetes 50 m
Observatori de l'Ebre 800 m

Towns near Roquetes

What to see in Tortosa 1.8 km · 17 places
What to see in Aldover 6.8 km · 4 places
What to see in Tivenys 9.9 km · 3 places
What to see in Xerta 9.9 km · 8 places
What to see in Alfara de Carles 10 km · 4 places
What to see in Santa Bàrbara 12 km · 4 places
What to see in Masdenverge 12 km · 4 places
What to see in l'Aldea 13 km · 6 places

Spain › Catalonia › Tarragona › Baix Ebre › Roquetes

What to see and do in Roquetes

Roquetes
Village
Roquetes is a municipality in the comarca of Baix Ebre, in the province of Tarragona, located next to Tortosa, from which it is separated by barely a kilometre and with which it today forms a conurbation. Its origins lie in an old Islamic farmstead, documented in 1603 as Roquetes de n'Ortís. It separated from Tortosa by royal decree of Isabella II on 22 March 1850 and received city status in 1880. The parish church, dedicated to Saint Anthony of Padua, was built in 1836. In 1904 the Jesuits Ricard Cirera and Lluís Rodés founded the Observatori de l'Ebre here, which studies the relationship between solar activity and geophysical phenomena, and which earned it the Creu de Sant Jordi in 1987.
Church of Roquetes
Monument
Church of Sant Antoni in Roquetes, of rectangular plan and single nave with side chapels between buttresses; despite its single-nave plan, the interior visually functions like three naves thanks to the large round arches opened between the buttresses.
Ports Natural Park (Roquetes and Alfara Slope)
Nature
The Els Ports massif, with its cliffs and ravines, to the south of the Baix Ebre, on the slopes of Roquetes and Alfara de Carles. Declared a natural park in 2001, it covers 35,050 hectares and nine municipalities, and reaches its highest point at Mont Caro, at 1,441 metres. It is home to more than 1,300 plant species, including the southernmost beech forests on the Iberian Peninsula, alongside pine woods of black pine and Scots pine. Among its fauna are the Iberian wild goat, birds of prey such as the griffon vulture, the golden eagle and Bonelli's eagle, and more than half of Catalonia's reptile and amphibian species. The relief includes cliff faces, escarpments and deep gorgs (pools) carved out by the rivers.
Roquetes Main Festival
Activity
The Festa Major of Roquetes is held in the first week of July in honour of Sant Gregori d'Òstia, patron of the city, with the handing out of the "panoli" bread by young people dressed as peasants and the cercavila del cosso-iris parade.
Roquetes Winter Main Festival
Activity
Roquetes's Festa Major d'Hivern is held in a village that separated from Tortosa by royal decree of Isabel II on 22 March 1850, and where in 1904 the Jesuits Ricard Cirera and Lluís Rodés founded the Observatori de l'Ebre, which received the Creu de Sant Jordi in 1987.
Festivities of invierno de Roquetes
Activity
Roquetes's winter festival is held in a village that separated from Tortosa in 1850 and received the title of city from Alfonso XII in 1880, whose signature sweet, the punyetes, was chosen by popular vote in 1990.
Observatori de l'Ebre
Historical milestone
Founded in 1904 by the Jesuits Ricardo Cirera and Lluís Rodés to study the influence of solar activity on geophysical phenomena, it maintains solar, magnetic, ionospheric, seismic and meteorological sections and received the Creu de Sant Jordi in 1987. Today it is a university institute of the Universitat Ramon Llull, associated with the CSIC. It suffered severe damage during the Civil War and was rebuilt and expanded by its director, Antoni Romañà, between 1939 and 1970. Its buildings, spread through a wood, are included in the Inventory of Architectural Heritage of Catalonia; notable among them is the Landerer pavilion, of neoclassical style, with pseudo-Doric columns at the entrance portico.
Separation of Roquetes from Tortosa
Historical milestone
A royal decree of Isabel II separated the town from Tortosa on 22 March 1850 and the first town council was constituted on 14 April following. In 1880 Alfonso XII granted it the title of city, with the irrigation canal already in operation.
Punyetes de Roquetes
Food and drink
Sweet of almond, flour and anise that the residents chose by popular vote in 1990 as the town's representative dessert. It is baked in the local workshops and accompanies coffee or sweet wine at the festivities of the calendar.