Logbook · 8 places

What to see and do in la Morera de Montsant

What to see and do in la Morera de Montsant (Priorat, Tarragona): 8 places across monuments, nature, activities and curiosities, with a photo and a Google Maps location.

1 Villages · 3 Monuments · 1 Activities · 1 Curiosities · 2 Historical milestones

How far each place is from the centre of la Morera de Montsant

Charterhouse of Escaladei 2.8 km
Former House of la Procura 3.2 km

Towns near la Morera de Montsant

What to see in Poboleda 3.4 km · 4 places
What to see in Cornudella de Montsant 5.3 km · 10 places
What to see in Torroja del Priorat 6.3 km · 6 places
What to see in la Vilella Alta 6.8 km · 3 places
What to see in Ulldemolins 7 km · 7 places
What to see in Margalef 7.7 km · 2 places
What to see in la Vilella Baixa 8.3 km · 2 places
What to see in Porrera 8.5 km · 5 places

Spain › Catalonia › Tarragona › Priorat › la Morera de Montsant

What to see and do in la Morera de Montsant

La Morera de Montsant
Village
La Morera de Montsant is a municipality in the comarca of the Priorat, in the province of Tarragona, of probable Arab origin. It has 150 inhabitants. Its territory includes the charterhouse of Escaladei, the first charterhouse on the Iberian Peninsula, whose landholdings were transferred by King James I after its founding, as well as the old women's monastery of Bonrepòs, which grew out of a resettlement farm granted in 1170. Dry farming, with vines, olives, hazelnuts, almonds and cereals, remains the basis of its economy, together with growing tourism. It preserves the parish church, dedicated to the Nativity of the Virgin, with a Romanesque three-arch portal, and the hermitage of Santa Maria, with a single nave and pointed vault. It celebrates its main festival from 8 to 11 September.
Charterhouse of Escaladei
Monument
The Charterhouse of Santa María de Escaladei, founded in 1194 by King Alfonso the Chaste, was the first Carthusian monastery on the Iberian Peninsula, from which the other Catalan charterhouses arose, and its domains shaped the historic territory of Priorat. It is located in the village of Escaladei, in the municipal area of la Morera de Montsant, at the foot of the Sierra de Montsant. Its first monks came from the charterhouse of Verne, in Provence; they settled first in the hermitage of Santa María de Poboleda, until around 1203, thanks to donations from King Pedro the Catholic and Queen Sancha of Castile, they were established in the desert of the Vall de l'Oliver. The works, including the main cloister and the first twelve cells, were not completed until 1228. In 1217 Pope Honorius III confirmed its possessions.
Castle of la Morera
Monument
Remains of the castle of la Morera de Montsant, in Priorat, at the top of the hill overlooking the upper part of the village, declared an asset of national cultural interest. Rectangular in plan, today only a stretch of ashlar wall measuring 8 by 18.8 metres survives, with a maximum height of 5 metres at the only corner that remains intact; on the east façade the doorway opens, of which only the jambs remain. It is believed to have originally been a Saracen rafal, and in 1170 Albert de Castellvell granted it to Arnau de Salforès so that he would settle it. In 1218 Jaume I gave it in concession to the Charterhouse of Santa Maria d'Escaladei, under whose ownership it remained until 1835; in the 17th century its use as a seigniorial prison is documented, and in 1954 many of its stones were used to repair streets and a square in the village.
Former House of la Procura
Monument
An old house linked to the charterhouse of Escaladei, in la Morera de Montsant (Priorat), declared an asset of national cultural interest. It originally served as the dwelling of the monk responsible for tending the monastery's crops. The present building was erected from 1692 onward, making use of only a small stretch of wall from the earlier structures at its north-west corner. After the disentailment of 1836 it was sold, and between 1850 and 1880 it was renovated as the residence of a landowner from the village. It is a building of ground floor and two upper storeys, with a gabled roof and two balconies on the first floor facing the square, in a historicist style inspired by medieval defensive constructions, with battlements added in the 19th century that simulate fortifications.
La Morera de Montsant Main Festival
Activity
The Festa Major de la Morera de Montsant is held in the municipality that includes Scala Dei, the charterhouse founded in 1194 that gave its name to the whole region and which was stormed and burned after the 1835 disentailment.
Trail of el Cister pel Priorat
Curiosity
A stretch of the Ruta del Cister (Cistercian Route) that runs through the Priorat to the Cartoixa d'Escaladei, in the municipality of la Morera de Montsant, at the foot of the Montsant mountain range. The charterhouse, founded in 1194 by King Alfonso the Chaste, was the first Carthusian monastery on the Iberian Peninsula; its first monks arrived from the charterhouse of Provence and settled there permanently around 1203. It experienced its heyday in the 14th and 15th centuries as the richest charterhouse in the Carthusian province of Catalonia, until the secularisation of 1835 left it abandoned, looted and burned. Declared a Bien de Interés Cultural (Spain's highest level of heritage protection) in 1980, it has been managed since 1990 by the Generalitat de Catalunya, which has carried out continuous restoration work since 1992.
The priory of Scala Dei and the origin of the comarca's name
Historical milestone
The charterhouse founded in 1194 was the first in the peninsula and exercised lordship over a dozen villages of the range. From that dominion of the prior comes the name by which the whole comarca is known.
Disentailment and burning of Escaladei
Historical milestone
In 1835 the monks abandoned the charterhouse, which was assaulted, burned and stripped of its patrimony. The lands were divided among the residents, which multiplied the small vineyard plots that still characterise the landscape.