Approaching Andorra in La Seu d'Urgell
High up in the Pyrenee mountains we find the Principality of Andorra - a miniature country of 75000 inhabitants famous for duty-free shopping and winter sports. While Andorra with its focus on commercial activity and lack of historic artifacts, may be a poor choice for visitors seeking local charm, history and culture, the adjacent town of LA SEU D'URGELL about 10 miles south in Catalonia, has all the ingredients of a perfect tourist destination and one that has to date been a well-kept secret hidden in the Pyrenees of Northern Spain.
While the region of Alt Urgell, just south of the border to France and Andorra, has traditionally been economically underdeveloped, La Seu was fortunate enough to have a savvy mayor in the early 1990s that managed to convince officials at the Olympics to choose the Segre river in La Seu for their water rafting and canooing competitions. What was to follow was the construction of the Segre Olympic Complex with millions of euros of investment by the EU, the Catalan government and the Olympic Committee, whereby the Segre river was rerouted, canalized and perfect rafting and canooing facilities were created and then used extensively during the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. The economic boon of the Olympic games can still be felt today almost 2 decades later, as La Seu evolved from a sleepy neglected back-water community to an active gateway to the Pyrenee Mountains and a perfect stopover for visitors en route to Andorra and on to France.
A visit to La Seu thus ideally starts at the Segre Olympic Complex, nowadays a popular resort and recreation terrain for the local population. Upon crossing the park, a staircase leads from the Segre river into the pedestrianized Old Town of La Seu - with moderate commercial and tourist activity - slightly above-average for a regional capital of 15000. The city is rich in town houses from the Middle Ages featuring cozy arcades to protect visitors and locals alike from the frequent rain and snow in the winter. Otherwise the region is blessed with a micro-climate of above-average sunshine and steady moderate to high temperatures in the spring and summer, as the Alt Urgell valley runs from East to West and thus remains mostly unaffected by low-pressure systems from the Pyrenees.
About half way down the pedestrian street we turn right and arrive at the PATI DEL PALAU, a small square in front of the Bishop's Palace - it is here that we hear about La Seu's unique relationship to Andorra - as the Bishop of La Seu since the 12th century has been a co-prince of Andorra along with the President of France. For that reason, the Bishop's Palace features the code of arms of Andorra on its walls. The name "La Seu d'Urgell" means "Seat of Urgell", a native Iberian tribe that settled along the lowest of the 5 passes over the Pyrenees precisely in the location where La Seu is located today. Initial wealth was based on tax income for trade over the mountain pass and that in turn filled the coffers of the city of La Seu, which became an influential bishopry in the area.
Testimony to that wealth is La Seu's impressive late-Romanesque Cathedral of Santa Maria d'Urgell, featuring first examples of stained glass windows, more elaborate ornamentations and decorations than found in earlier Catalan Romanesque style. Among the decorations, knobs along the cathedral pillars stand out. They symbolize loafs of bread, as the present building dates back to the early 12th century (1116), a time when the region just successfully survived serious famine and celebrated the supply of enough bread and food for all. Some frescoes and paintings equally survived, but most were taken away to be displayed at the Romanesque Art Museum in Barcelona. A few examples of Romanesque statues and wall paintings, however, may be admired at the highly interesting Diocesian Museum inside the Cathedral cloister.
Towards the Altar we find the transept on the left dedicated to SAINT ERMENGOL, the town's patron saint who intitiated construction of the original cathedral consecrated in 1040. He built many bridges and roads in the area during the 11th century and died in 1035 falling off the Pont de Bar bridge, which he inspected. The altar stone in the front dates back to the first building on this site almost 2000 years ago and is nowadays covered by a yellow cloth. As we leave the Cathedral complex of La Seu, we are impressed by the historic legacy and beauty of the region of ALT URGELL and its relative lack of visitors making for a true peaceful immersion experience to local Catalan culture for any visitor to this charming area.
Comments
Post a Comment