Besalú

Any Saturday or Sunday morning is a party in Besalú. The old capital of Cataluña wakes up early, the beautiful greenish waters have a honey-colored hue to them, as they await your visit. The tourists begin to arrive and end up falling to their knees, exhausted. The town knows that its century-old aura is as strong as a spell. Everyone that visits is cast under the spell, there is no escaping.

It’s like you’ve been put under a spell as soon as you get close to the long 11th century Roman bridge. Besalú’s best medieval profile as you come from Fluviá. Once inside the town, the small, intricate, dark streets of the center or Jewish quarters seem like mysterious secrets in the shadows.

The Garrotxa region has an infinity of places to see, where you can find a state of peace and calmness that sometime we have to look to hard to find, but once you come to Besalú it’s like time stands still.

Its streets, its rocks, the vividly beautiful Fluviá and its architecture all mix together to create an exceptional medieval town – one of the best conserved in all the country. The best thing you can do is walk through the streets, enjoy the peaceful plazas, walk next to the river. Cross the bridge, climb up and down the stairs and enjoy some of the best food in all of Cataluña, with its “volcanic cuisine.”

It can sometimes get saturated due to the number of tourists that tend to visit the city. If you come on a normal day, this medieval city will find a special place in your heart and you’ll never be able to forget about it.

Walking down the streets of Besalu’s old quarters can give you big and unusual surprises like the Romanesque figures in the wall, or the image of a vault above a small window. You’re likely to find all kinds of surprises from a once thriving Roman civilization. But a certain chair with very big legs on the landing of a stairway, as well as the walls, or the small iron figures behind windows always raise my interest in those things that most don’t pay attention to.

A medieval dustbin in any corner, a house with the year it was constructed and the owner’s name engraved in a wooden beam that separated the door of the window and balcony, symbols of Christianity sculpted into the floor, an enormous tree with a great plaque that has a Ramón Vidal de Basalú poem carved in it, or a chair built into a wall like it’s asking you to sit down, etc…

Besalú is a charming town in the outskirts of Barcelona, Spain. You must visit it! The narrow streets, the churrches, and that special feeling you get when you're there. I guarantee you'll love it. There are wonderful views and some good places to eat. In particular, try Bar Manolo, where you'll be treated like royalty and eat like one too for only 12 euros a person. You can also go for cañas and tapas. Highly recommended! You won't regret it!

Besalu is surely one of the prettiest towns that I've seen in Catalonia. It's a medieval town with a great history. But above all, it has a great present. Because of its characteristics and its maintenance, it has earned the right among must-see tourist places in the Pyrenees. The historic walled Romanesque church, its streets, its small steps, the bridge, the river - all these things make this place unforgettable for visitors. Do not miss it.