Miravet

Ebre in Miravet.

Inner courtyard at Miravet castle.

Miravet is a municipality in the comarca of Ribera d'Ebre in the province of Tarragona, Catalonia, Spain.

Miravet is a little village located in the middle of the Terres de l’Ebre, in the middle of a beautiful landscape between mountains, the River Ebre and a leafy bank forest. You can enjoy the view by crossing the river with the ferry.

Arriving in Miravet on the ferry that crosses the river Ebre (the last one of its type that has been conserved in the Terres de l’Ebre) is a unique experience. Today, of course, a medieval tax is no longer charged for the crossing, and though cars are now transported, the ferry still uses the river current as its only driving force. Making use of a crag, the Moors decided to found the, nowadays, Old Village, and crowning the rock, the great castle, rebuilt by the Knights Templar and transformed into a fortress-monastery, after the conquest of 1153. It is considered to be the largest fortified complex in Catalonia, and one of the best examples of Romanesque, religious and military, architecture of the Templar order in the whole Western world. It keeps alive the memory of the end of the Knights at the Crown of Aragon, who suffered a 12 month siege, between 1307 and 1308.

The other architectural treasures are in the Old Village, the Old Church by the Hospital order, dating from the Renaissance and unique in its style throughout the Terres de l’Ebre, it conserves the original stone altar from the castle, the remains of wall paintings and somes expositions. In contrast to this, we find the Islamic Arch for the Aljama-mosque in the backside of the church, and the Sanaqueta balcony over the river.

The clay pottery, the most ancestral tradition that is conserved in Miravet and in the Terres de l’Ebre, has for centuries seduced visitors who came to this town, and can now be see in Miravet.

There are still eight workshops, which are located together in the “Raval” quarter. There masters can be found making pieces by hand and still using the potter’s wheel; with shapes and glazes introduced from the Islamic world, such as pitchers,vats, jars, etc.

Coordinates: 41°02′N 0°36′E / 41.033°N 0.6°E / 41.033; 0.6