Besalú
Catalonia, Catalonia, how lovely you are… For all the people who never had a fortune to visit any of the many hidden corners of Catalonia in Spain, a lot of beauty lies there – have no doubt. One of them is our gem, Besalú, a small town in Spain hidden very well in its valley within Girona province.
Driving there through the cold night didn’t help too much to spark the imagination, but once we arrived, what a view! Dawn is breaking, showing us the silhouette of the town guardian, with the old walls standing there proudly. It was a pure cliché, but the bridge impressed us immediately with its massive appearance. I can tell you for sure that it is a masterpiece of medieval architecture that will not be easy to forget. The sun slowly comes out, and we are starting our journey being punched with a dose of excitement no one expected to have on this road. The air is cold, and the morning is clear—a perfect start.
Even though nothing special was there on the way, it was a very pleasant walk towards the bridge since all of us became very curious about what was hidden behind these walls we just ran into. For sure, all of these structures were there for a reason, I was thinking. And so it was, standing there in front of us, an incredibly well-preserved 12th-century Romanesque bridge that easily hypnotizes you to lose yourself in absorbing all the landscape that opens there. It feels like every stone there has a story to tell. I still don’t know why, but I felt a bit of fear passing through its towers in the middle, which could be veneration at first sight…
As we get closer, it is easy to see that this was a place of some historical importance. You can tell by all the beautiful details of the architecture, which never stop to saturate your sight. It takes you slowly across the river, and you become privileged to enter another dimension, far distant in the past. Is a place that will make you forget very fast what time it is, and a huge gate makes you feel so small entering there. Once you start to wander through the streets, it will show you how life was here a long time ago. If time travel is possible, this is the closest I have ever been to it.
Some passages will take you to the main square, where social life took place. Other passages will take you to the terraces on the river bank, where you can admire the old bridge while having a cup of coffee undisturbed. Some, again, can give you beautiful green landscapes on your palm. Surprisingly stunning views in every direction—a treasure!
If you take a closer look, you will see how all facades face each other in many narrow streets. With all those windows facing the narrow streets, I believe there was no social media needed to figure out who was doing what back then. On top of it, the river itself can allow you to walk across its valley if you arrive at the right time.
It is incredible how shy Besalú is to reveal all the charm it has. After all, it feels like some sort of manual is needed to learn the best way to enjoy this town. What is the secret of this place? If you run through Besalú trying to make a good photo for your social media so you can impress a wide audience, you will probably miss most of the charm this place can give. The good thing is that you will still be happy because you don’t know how much you missed. The bad thing is that you missed a lot, indeed. It is really a small place that somehow drags you into its tranquility and keeps you there for some time. It’s almost like magic. Don’t rush to see everything. Take your time, sit, walk, and enjoy, there is plenty to admire here in silence. Besalú secret really is in details—an insane amount of details. It seems ultimately unfair to list the main things to see because, in my opinion, it gives a few raw facts, which for sure cannot demonstrate how impressive this town is.
Maybe the walls themselves absorbed the vibe from the people who lived here in the past. Maybe it is because this is a town where people from different cultures lived together in peace and harmony, which were not easy to achieve back then. Many historical facts can tell a lot about it. Besalú was an important place once with trading and political power but somehow remained humble through the time. It could be the reason why Besalú is still here and looking good, while most towns of its age were long forgotten I time ago. No doubt it will stay there and pass the message on to future generations. I visited many old towns around the world, but Besalú, for some reason, gave me something different. Besalú feels like a town full of life, like a town that is not to visit and pass but really to live there.
To be fair, the province of Girona in Catalonia is a region full of spectacular places in Spain. The whole region has many interesting ruins and towns where one can be impressed over and over again, but this is left for some other story. After all the wandering, our senses are tired, and now we need some rest. You can choose from many beautiful places to eat while surrounded by those historic walls. Local cuisine will not disappoint, don’t worry. We took a lovely terrace, which gave us the view we liked over the river valley. Besalú drained a lot of our energy, and we ended up there, exhausted. Now we need time to absorb all the impressions and recover.
It is late afternoon already, and we have to leave soon. I was still thinking, Is there any street left to discover, and is there any detail I missed noticing? There was probably plenty left to discover, but it has to wait for some other day. While walking back, we took a walk around and passed over a new road bridge so we could take a glance one last time to say goodbye and continue our journey with a fond memory.
Thank you Besalú.