Logbook · 6 places

What to see and do in Altafulla

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

1 Villages · 4 Monuments · 1 Historical milestones

How far each place is from the centre of Altafulla

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Spain › Catalonia › Tarragona › Tarragonès › Altafulla

What to see and do in Altafulla

Altafulla
Village
Altafulla is a coastal town in the Tarragonès, in the province of Tarragona, with a well-preserved walled old town and its termenat castle, already documented in 1059. Located between Torredembarra and Tarragona, it stands 52 metres above sea level, with a beach reaching as far as the promontory of the castle of Tamarit, within the municipal boundary of Tarragona. Founded following the campaigns of Ramon Berenguer I in the Catalunya Nova, it was a county fief until the 14th century and later passed to the Requesens and the Montserrat, marquises of Tamarit. It experienced a period of economic splendour in the 18th century thanks to the maritime export of agricultural products, and was sacked several times during the Peninsular War, on the outskirts of which the battle of Altafulla was fought.
Castle of Altafulla
Monument
The castle of Altafulla, also known as the castle of Montserrat, was rebuilt from 15th-century plans. It is a building with an irregular polygonal plan and a fortress-like appearance, equipped with loopholes and sentry boxes, which preserves an original courtyard and a Renaissance gallery, although the interior has been altered on several occasions. From 1669-1673 it belonged to the Montserrat family, whose heirs, the Suelves, retained jurisdiction over the municipality. It is preserved in very good condition and dominates the walled old town of the locality.
Great Tower of Sant Antoni
Monument
Old optical telegraph tower next to the hermitage of Sant Antoni, in the upper part of the town, at 80 meters of altitude; square in plan, 5 by 5 meters and about 8 meters high, following the standard Mathé model. It was part of the civilian line linking Madrid with Valencia and Barcelona, extended to la Jonquera, operational since 1849. It survives in good condition, though it is privately owned and cannot be visited inside. A Bien Cultural de Interés Nacional (Catalonia's top heritage-protection category).
Wall of Altafulla
Monument
The wall of Altafulla, of which only remains survive, began to be built in the 14th century and was rebuilt after the 17th century, enclosing the small medieval urban centre today known as the Vila Closa. Remains survive such as the passatge de Santa Teresa, next to the castle, two corner towers -one heavily restored-, and three of the access gates, in the streets of Dalt, the carreró dels Espinac and the plaça del Pou, whose voussoirs bear the engraved dates 1618 and 1678. The 18th-century urban development exceeded the walled precinct and left the towers without defensive use; they were converted into dwellings, one of them now standing right in the centre of the town.
Old Town of Altafulla
Monument
Known as the Vila Closa, this is the walled medieval core of Altafulla, whose first historical reference dates to the second half of the 11th century; it preserves remains of walls, towers, and gates, renovated after the Guerra dels Segadors and in the 18th century, the period to which most of the houses visible today belong, prosperous thanks to agricultural exports to the American colonies. Declared a Bien Cultural de Interés Nacional (Catalonia's top heritage-protection category) in 1998.
Roman villa of Els Munts
Historical milestone
The Roman villa dels Munts rises on a small hill next to the beach of Altafulla, 12 kilometres from Tarragona, and forms part of the archaeological ensemble of Tarraco declared a World Heritage Site in 2000. Built in the 1st century on a coastal promontory, it was a luxurious residence complementary to the urban home of a high official of the administration of Tàrraco, with baths, mosaics and wall paintings of great quality that today make it possible to document what this type of grand Roman house was like. Like the rest of the great villas around Tàrraco, it combined a residential function with agricultural exploitation through farm buildings and housing for the staff. It reached its peak in the 2nd century and suffered a fire in the 3rd.