Logbook · 6 places

What to see and do in Arnes

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

1 Villages · 3 Monuments · 1 Historical milestones · 1 Food and drink

How far each place is from the centre of Arnes

Towns near Arnes

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What to see in Beceite 11 km · 9 places
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Spain › Catalonia › Tarragona › Terra Alta › Arnes

What to see and do in Arnes

Arnes
Village
Arnes is a walled town of the Terra Alta, in the province of Tarragona, located at the southern end of the district, on a 508-metre hill overlooking the river Algars, near the border with Aragon and on the foothills of the Ports Natural Park. It has 461 inhabitants and was declared a Historic Ensemble in 1992. Its origin lies in a Saracen farmstead which, after being conquered by Alfonso the Chaste, was granted to the Order of the Temple, later passing to the Hospitallers of Amposta until the mid-19th century. Notable is the town hall, built in 1584 and considered one of the most important civil buildings of the Catalan Renaissance. The church, dedicated to Saint Mary Magdalene, is baroque and was built in 1693 on the site of an earlier Gothic church.
Castle of Arnes
Monument
13th-century Gothic castle built over a former Saracen farmstead which King Alfons the Chaste handed over to the Templar commandery of Horta to repopulate it; after the dissolution of the Temple in 1312 it passed to the Hospitallers of Saint John of Jerusalem. Today only remains of ashlar walls survive, some reused as dwellings; on the side facing carrer Onze de Setembre the rocky base on which they stand can still be seen.
Historic Centre of Arnes
Monument
The historic centre of Arnes is the medieval walled complex of the municipality, raised on a hill at 508 metres above the right bank of the Algars river, in the Terra Alta. It grew up around the old castle of Arnes, and its main streets, Bonaire and Major, follow the contour of the hill among ashlar buildings, arcades, gateways and sheds, with the accesses of the Miquelet, the Sastre, the Portalet and the Sardinera. The town hall, from the Renaissance, is one of the most notable Catalan civil buildings of that style. Alfonso II the Chaste conquered the town from the Saracens, and it later belonged to the Templars and, afterwards, to the Hospitallers. The complex, listed as IPAC-3798, was declared a cultural asset of national interest on 20 January 1992.
Hermitage of Arnes
Monument
The hermitage of Santa Madrona stands on the outskirts of Arnes, beside the Algars river, included in the Inventory of Architectural Heritage of Catalonia. It is a Gothic complex from the 14th-15th centuries that makes use of earlier remains and later alterations, with an ashlar porch covered by a four-part ribbed vault as its most notable feature; the rest of the building, of rubble masonry reinforced with ashlar, is covered by a pointed barrel vault with external buttresses, under a gabled roof, and consists of two sections, the first with the porch, the choir and the bell-gable. Next to the hermitage there is a garden with stone walls, a fountain and a door with a lintel dated 1710. In her honour, Arnes celebrates the feast of Santa Madrona in March.
Renaissance town hall of Arnes
Historical milestone
Built in 1584, it is one of the best examples of Renaissance civil architecture of the Ebro comarcas, with an arcaded loggia on the ground floor and a gallery of paired windows. It still houses the town council of the village.
Mushrooms and truffle of Els Ports
Food and drink
The pine and holm oak woods of the massif give an autumn harvest of rovellons, camagrocs and black winter truffle. The gathering is regulated and supplies the restaurants of the villages at the foot of the sierra during the season.