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| In the noroccidental end of the Catalan Pyrenees, we found Val you would d´Aran, to which the tunnel of Vielha is acceded from the south crossing, and has the particularitity of being the only Pyrenean valley of the western one of Atlantic climate, given its situation in the North slope of the mountain range. The Garona river crosses the valley, that takes its waters towards France. Their inhabitants have an own language, aranés, a linguistic variant of gascón. |
Terreespagne |
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Pirineo Occidental - Vielha
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Pirineo Occidental - Boi
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 Pirineo Occidental - Esterri d' Aneu |
descent of Christ de la Cruz. In a pretty satately house of century XVI the dera Musèu Val is installed you would d´Aran dedicated to natural history, history, art and ethnography of the region.
Between the localities of the valley it is possible to emphasize Artíes, with a pretty románica church, Salardú, important tourist center, whose church of Sant Andreu is a good example of Romanesque of transition and keeps a policromada románica cross, and Bossost, to borders of the Garona, also important tourist center, in where it is worth the trouble to visit the church of Era Asuncio'n de Maria, magnificent example of Romanesque aranés.
This valley is famous also to have one of the greater and better ski resorts of Spain: Baqueira-Beret. We can enjoy wonderful views del valley crossing the highway from the Port of the Bonaigua to Pont del King, following the course del Garona. This route will as much offer a quite complete vision to us from the landscaping point of view like architectonic of the zone.
Leaving the Val you would d´Aran by the port of the Bonaigua, we arrived at the population of Espot, where is an access to the National Parc of Aigües Tortes i Llac de Sant Maurici, only national park of Catalonia, that has one of the beautiful landscapes but that can be contemplated in the Pyrenees. The park offers great amount of cascades and about 150 lakes and lagoons of origin glacier. Between the most beautiful landscapes they are those than they surround the lake by Sant Maurici, located to the foot of summits dels Encantats. The place is departure point of numerous excursions.
As much the flora as the fauna of the park is extremely interesting. They inhabit the place species like rebecos, beavers and otters, and between the birds there are golden eagles and rare urogallo. As much in the Eastern part of the park, in its access by Boí, like in the western one, its access by Espot, we will find information centers. The part this of this pirenaica zone, also offers, landscapes of great beauty, within the region of the Pallars Sobirá. We will find in this zone the highest tip of Catalan mountains, Pica d´Estats, of more than 3,000 meters, as well as beautiful valleys like the one of Assua or Vall Ferrera and lakes like Certascan or Naorte.
In this zone in addition the visitor will have the opportunity to enjoy numerous monuments and towns of doubtless enchantment. D´Aneu, pretty collection of houses with slate tile roofs is worth the trouble to visit Esterri and Gerri of the Salt, whose salt mines they were of great importance in the Average Age and that counts on the beautiful monastery of Santa Maria, building of the century XII, that was one of the most important monasteries of the Pyrenees and had great political and economic influence in the Average Age. They are also interesting Rialp, with its pretty medieval streets, Shore of Cardós, where it emphasizes the bell tower Romanesque of its parochial church and Sort, capital of the region where we can find the rest of the old castle of Counts de Pallars and that has become at the moment a center of the lovers of the piragüismo. They are to emphasize the churches of Sant d´Isil Joan of century IX, with interesting escultóricas pieces, the church of Sant Pere of the Burgal in Climbed, old visigótico monastery that was later benedictine abbey and the church of Santa Maria d´Aneu in Unarre. In addition other many churches and hermitages scattered by all the territory exist.
Leaving Val you would d´Aran by the tunnel of Vielha we entered the Ribagorça Discharge, whose capital is Pont de Suert, borders of the Noguera Ribagorzana. Old villa crossroad, conserves interesting samples of its past, like the Major seat and the one of the Mercadal or the old church. In the modern part, the new parochial church was constructed in 1955, shows of the religious art of vanguard.
The Ribagorça Discharge is a region of mountain, steep relief and little density of population. Magnificent mountain landscapes, peaky that reaches the 3,000 meters of altitude, circuses glaciers and Straits valleys do of these places of most attractive of the Pyrenean one. The traditional economy, cradle in the cattle ranch and the operation of the forest, have taken step at the present time to the operation of the hydraulic resources and the tourism.
Perhaps but the one that has done of this place one of the most known Catalonia is the magnificent set of románicas churches of the Vall de Boí, constructed between the centuries XI and XII and whose maximum exponents are those of Santa Maria and Sant Climent de Taüll. At the moment the paintings that decorated these churches expose in the MNAC of Barcelona. The churches of San Joan de Boí, Barruera, Erill the Vall and Durro are also interesting. |
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