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GUIMERÀ, MEDIEVAL CHARM IN URGELL

General view of Guimerà.

Guimerà is a small village located in Urgell (Lleida) on the banks of the Corb River. Strolling through its beautiful streets means embarking on a journey into the past that leaves no one indifferent. And it is its houses and corners that, with a very vivid medieval countenance, are distributed on the constant ups and downs of the land on which it sits, forming an original layout of architectural forms.

This idyllic place stands out for its location, the foothills of a hill, a position that allows you to dominate the valley in which it is located, and for the different places of interest that can be visited.

Vallsanta Convent

Already from the road, shortly before we reach the village, we can see the ruins of the Convent of Vallsanta. This Cistercian women’s convent was built in 1235 to replace the Convent of Santa María de Bovera, which was in deplorable conditions because of lack of water. In 1429, 23 nuns moved to Vallsanta and resided in the convent until 1589. The abbot of Poblet ordered his transfer to the Monastery of Santa María del Pedregal. Because of various plagues, only three nuns remained, and the debts accumulated. This was the beginning of the end, as the convent became merely vestiges of what it once was from its abandonment.

The streets of Guimerà and its castle

Once we arrive at the village, we enter the Middle Ages as we walk through charming streets where arches and stone houses form an extraordinary setting. And going up from street to street, passing through various viewpoints that offer views of the landscape, we reach the ruins of the castle, an imposing fortress of the

eleventh century, from which only remains a vital part of the tower that seems to keep an eye on the whole valley.

The castle was built in the eleventh century by Christians during the Reconquest on what was an ancient Iberian village and was part of a defensive line that Ramón Berenguer I created to defend the region of the Segarra as it has a strategic place in the Corb Valley. Several noble families stayed at the fortress, who held the title of Barons of Guimerà. Finally, the castle was destroyed in 1835 during the First Carlist War, and until it was restored in the twentieth century, it was used as a quarry by the population.

Close to the ruins of the castle is the Gothicstyle church of Santa Maria, built in the fourteenth century because of the significant growth that Guimerà experienced at the time.

For one weekend a year, Guimerà returns to Middle Ages with its Medieval Market.

Medieval Market

For one weekend a year, in August, the inhabitants of this small town, along with thousands of visitors, return to a Middle Ages market through the streets of Guimerà. For two days, about a hundred shops with products of the time, and twenty artisans who offer demonstrations of the trades of the time (forge, macramé, basketry, works on parchment, etc.), can be visited through the streets of the municipality. In addition, the market also offers its visitors walkways, sketches of medieval daily life, shows, juggling workshops, among many other proposals.

Guimerà during its Medieval Market.