Lleida - Montfalcó Murallat, a charming walled medieval village

Montfalcó Murallat in Lleida in Catalonia

Surely you have visited many medieval villages with wallsbut I tell you that a town like Montfalcó Murallat It is not easy to find.

In fact until my recent route through the province of Lleida in Catalonia I had not had the opportunity to see an example like that of this medieval village located on top of a hill.

In the municipal term of Les Oluges, the region of La SegarraFrom a distance it will be easy for you to recognize the location of Montfalcó Murallat seeing a small wall on a hill.

Montfalcó Murallat in Lleida in Catalonia

Indeed it is a very small town because there are only 15 houses and a church on that hill.

When you approach you will see a robust stone fortification without any house in the outer area of ​​the wall, so it will really be easy to transfer your imagination to the Middle Ages when the medieval villages They had that same configuration.

History of Montfalcó Murallat

In fact, the first historical references of Montfalcó Murallat date back to the 11th century, during the reign of count of Berga, Bernat I.

At that time that area was border territory after having been conquered to Muslims, so it is easy to understand that taking advantage of the height of the hill such a fortification was built.

The outside of it has been dedicated to farmland to this day, and has been in the near Les Oluges where urban development has occurred for residents of the area.

Along the history, Montfalcó Murallat It has been besieged several times, specifically in the Catalan civil war from the mid-fifteenth century and in that of the Reapers, in the middle of the 17th century.

In those wars this medieval village He showed his impregnable character, and in fact there is a legend that affects this fact.

Legend of Montfalcó Murallat

This legend goes back to the contests during the Middle Ages among nobles who occupied this territory.

The population of Montfalcó He suffered a long siege after losing the battle in the open country and taking refuge inside the fortification.

Montfalcó Murallat in Lleida in Catalonia

To try to create discord among this population, the attackers launched with a catapult messages inciting surrender, which were tied to pieces of bread, a way of making them understand that only this way they could have food.

But those attackers received from the defenders of Montfalcó challenging messages tied to fresh fish, so that in the end he gave up the attack.

The legend says that these fish had been raised to the fortification by a long tunnel that descended until Les Oluges, and that was the way they had to supply themselves with food.

I will tell you our visit of Montfalcó Murallat They did not confirm the existence of this tunnel.

What to see in Montfalcó Murallat

You can only access the interior of Montfalcó by its south facade through two successive doors joined by a passage at right angles to facilitate the defense of the fortification.

Montfalcó Murallat in Lleida in Catalonia

In Montfalcó Murallat Currently there are only two people residing, so if you visit it outside on weekends and high holiday season, it is possible that on your walk you are practically alone, as it happened to us.

After passing these doors with vaulted arches you arrive directly at the central central square, where you will see that there is a restaurant,

On one side of the square you will guess on the ground the hole where the cistern is still used today to supply the town with water.

The fortification has post-original wall structures, and there are also houses from the 17th and 18th centuries.

Although the good part of the houses show abandonment, others are occupied by several rural houses where you can stay, so that Montfalcó It has become a prominent destination for rural tourism, especially in summer.

Montfalcó Murallat in Lleida in Catalonia

The Romanesque church located next to one side of the wall has its origin in the eleventh century, but has been extended later.

Note that the apse of the church takes advantage of the structure of a circular tower that was next to the wall.

In you walk through Montfalcó Murallat you will go through narrow alleys and cross under arches and arcaded galleries.

If you start or complete the visit around the wall by a path enabled for it, you will see the robustness of it and you will also find some door and window opened in more recent time by the owners of some house.

In short, I anticipate that Montfalcó Murallat It is one of the most charming medieval corners, not only in Lleida but also in Catalonia.

Montfalcó Murallat in Lleida in Catalonia

Photos of Montfalcó Murallat

Here are more photos of the amazing medieval village of Montfalcó Murallat in the province of Lleida.

How to get to Montfalcó Murallat

Montfalcó Murallat you find it in the region of the Segarra of the province of Lleida, 67 kilometers east of the capital, arriving on the A2, from which you must leave in the town of Cervera.

And also just an hour and a quarter to the northwest from Barcelona going on the same highway.