Siurana

Siurana de Prades is a small town in Cornudella del Montsant. A few years ago there wasn’t even a paved road to reach it, which made it much more interesting. Almost no one ventured the 8 km dirt road drive to visit it, meaning it felt like the town was all yours if you visited it. Nowadays, there are much more tourists, as they’ve built the paved road, but the town is still marvelous. It’s considered to be one of the most bealutiful towns in all of Cataluña – both for the cultural interest and its magnificent natural surroundings.

The town is located on a rocky limestone crag, which was a strategic location in other times. The last Muslim bastion in Cataluña was raised here. Legend says that the Christians, in their reconquest efforts, were helped by a Jew who showed them where to Access the castle. The queen of the castle, knowing how difficult it was to reach the castle, was celebrating a party when the Christians entered the castle. She knew what the consequences were and quickly got on her horse and raced towards the cliff. She knew the horse wouldn’t jump, so she covered its eyes, but its instincts still kicked in and it stopped causing here to fly off over the cliff. You can still see the print of the horseshoe in the rocks.

A fantasy walk that, from Cornudella de Montsant the zig-zagging path opens up among reddish and strangely-shaped stone formations that will take you to Siurana de Prades. The town is very small, quiet, high up, and although mysterious through its history, it feels like it’s open to the four winds.

Siurana was, until 1153, the last Saracen redoubt of Cataluña and you can still see the ruins of the great fort when entering the city. Today, it’s a very calm and peaceful place, full and limpid air and silence. The two or three shady narrow streets filled with banana trees and the occasional lily will take you to the beautiful Romanesque church located right on the boarder of the spectacular precipice.