The sights of the historic centre of Llanca in Spain, where a huge number of monuments are concentrated in a small square. You can read about the other part of the town, the port, in the first article about the port of Llanca.
The hotel gave us a map of the town of Llans and pointed out where to go. We decided to walk through the town centre, then walk to the tourist office and from there to the monastery of Sant Pere de Rodes.
La Vila de Llançà
La Vila de Llancá became the centre of the town in 862, when the inhabitants of the Emporada coast were forced to move inland due to Saracen pirate raids. The geographical position of Vila de Llancas was very advantageous: on the one hand, it was close to the sea; on the other hand, it was itself practically invisible from the sea.
Today La Vila is a beautiful and atmospheric neighbourhood with white, albeit slightly dilapidated, houses. If tidied up and decked out in bright colours, La Vila is as atmospheric as Mojacar in southern Spain, which I found heart-warming. The heart of La Vila is the Plaça de la Vila, also traditionally known as the Plaça Major in Spanish. The most touristy spot in the city with lots of souvenir shops and cafes. Few tourists, as it was out of season, were Spanish and French. By the way, French is heard here even more often than Spanish.
So, let’s move on to the must-see sights in La Vila in Llanca.
La Vila: sights to see in Llanca
Watercolour museum Museo de l’Aquarel-la – J. Martínez Lozano
Llanca is also called the “Watercolour Capital”. The museum, located in the House of Culture, houses a collection of watercolours donated in 1989 by the artist José María Martínez Lozano J. Martinez Lozano (1923-2006). The museum is small, and when we were there, many of the paintings were still closed. In addition to watercolours, the museum has an exhibition of architectural finds.
Walking around Llanca, you can often see the artist’s paintings in the streets (most often just around the places they depict). It’s beautiful!
Museo de l’Aquarel-la museum opening hours:
- Monday 9.00-13.00
- Tuesday to Friday: 9.00-13.00 and 17.00-20.00
- Saturday: 10.30-13.00 and 17.00-20.00
- Sunday: 10.30-13.00
Admission is free. A little more practical information: the museum has a free toilet.
The Liberty Tree in the centre of the square (Arbol de Libertad)
The mighty plane tree Platanus Habrida, also called the Arbol de la Plaza, is 25 metres high and was planted in 1870. You can see them in many Catalan and French cities. The name has stuck since the Great French Revolution of 1789, when throughout Western Europe the planting of trees in central squares became a symbol of independence.
The Romanesque Tower (Torre Romanica XIII-XIV centuries)
This rectangular tower, 21m high, is the only architectural element in Llanca which survives from the ancient church of Sant Vicent (Iglesia de Sant Vicent). After the new church was built in the 18th century, it was used as a bell tower.
The 11th century Palau del Abat
Palau de l’Abat, attached to the south-west corner of the church of St Vicens, retains the original crenellated walls of the western sector of the castle. On the top is the shield of the San Pere de Rodes with the date (1677). On the same site where the new church was built, there was a large fortified palace where the abbots of the Benedictine monastery of Sant Pere de Rodes resided.
There is also the Gothic Tower of Abata from the old abbots’ castle of Sant Pere de Rodes, attached to the church of Sant Vicens, built between 1690 and 1730. The tower, which was the main tower of the ancient fortification, has been declared a Cultural Property of National Interest. The remains of the castle are located in the centre of the historic town centre in the immediate vicinity of the Church of St Vicens.
Tower of Honour (Torre del homenaje)
Until the end of the XVII century this was the main tower of the Abbot’s Palace Castle, the temporary residence of the Abbots of Sant Pere de Rodes. The fortress, with at least 6 towers, was part of the defensive complex of Lianza.
Refuge “Plaza de la República” (Plaza of the Republic)
The 56-metre-long, 1.3-metre-wide and 1.8-metre-high reinforced concrete shelter was built during the Spanish Civil War near the Church of Sant Vicente. The shelter was designed for 500 people and is now one of the largest in the municipality.
Fenced complex (Primitivo recinto amurallado)
At the end of the 17th century, the heart of Llanca was a small hill around the abbot’s castle-palace and the newly built parish church. The fortified enclosure consisted of a wall and six defensive towers. The walled enclosure provided strong protection for about sixty families, representing three hundred of the town’s inhabitants.
The stone pedestal (pedestal) of a tree in the 17th century plaza (Zocalo de piedra del arbol de la plaza)
The white stone rounded pedestal bears the city’s coat of arms (3 spears) and the date: 18 September 1684.
The fortified house of Casa Fortificada (seventeenth and eighteenth centuries).
As I said, in the XVII century Llanca was a walled city with all kinds of defensive towers. Gradually, some towers turned into fortified houses. Part of such a fortified house can be seen at the beginning of La Vila.
The Residència de Llançá
You can’t go near the pale pink building, it’s fenced off, but it’s worth a look.
We wandered, as always, through the narrow streets of the centre. It’s a seaside town, even with countless fishmongers. And the fact that it is Catalonia does not let us forget that many houses bear the memory of the recent historical events of the separation of Catalonia from Spain – there are flags of the Republic and posters with political slogans. By the way, the hotel told us that it’s better not to talk about politics here, and if we do, then only to curse the government of Madrid 🙂
