The tourist bus is ready for winter and offers 4 new trails for the season. Visit our museums, Romanesque heritage and the unique landscapes in the country in combination with your favourite winter activities. Don’t miss it!
We propose you take route 2 from the 4 available and discover the unique spots in the Vall d’Orient. On a sunny morning every Thursday, cover a small area of Andorra and uncover traditional Andorran architecture with a visit to Encamp old quarter and the Casa Cristo museum, surround yourself with the Principality’s Romanesque architecture with a visit to Sant Joan de Caselles and discover the country’s most emblematic sanctuary, the Sanctuary of Meritxell, Andorra’s patron saint.
Sant Joan de Caselles
This is one of the most emblematic Romanesque churches in the Principality and dates from the 11th-12th century, following the architectural style of other Andorra Romanesque churches: it has a rectangular single nave with wooden ceiling, a semi-circular apse and Lombard-style belfry. It conserves two archways probably built in the 16th and 17th centuries.
The interior houses remains of 12th-century majestic Romanesque stucco covered in a Romanesque mural scene showing the crucifixion. There is also a 16th-century altarpiece depicting scenes from the life and martyrdom of Saint John, author of the book of Revelations and patron saint of the church.
Meritxell Sanctuary
The sanctuary of Andorra’s patron saint whose feast day is celebrated by locals every 8th September. There are presently two churches: the old sanctuary and the new church. The sanctuary is Romanesque, reformed and extended in the 17th century. It was destroyed by a fire on Our Lady of Meritxell Day in 1972. It currently holds the permanent exhibition Meritxell Memòria.
The exhibition reflects the feelings and memories of the celebrations and processions that took place before the fire. Some objects that survived the flames are also displayed, such as a forged steel grille from the 17th century or the sanctuary bell.
The new sanctuary was designed by Catalan architect Ricard Bofill in 1976. Here you can find a reproduction of the Romanesque virgin, which disappeared in the 1972 fire, as well as sculptures of the seven patron saints of the parish churches in Andorra.
Encamp Old Town and Casa Cristo Ethnographic Museum
A trip to Encamp old town and Casa Cristo offers visitors a unique chance to see what life was like for locals in the parish as well as in a poor Andorran household in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
The narrow house with party walls comprises three floors full of small everyday details: tools smoothed by use, the stone scullery, the hundred-year-old christening gown, the secret drawer where the mistress of the house hid a money nook, etc. There is no luxury, no extra adornment – everything is a shrine to work and austerity.
Don’t miss it! Enjoy our heritage and give your stay in Andorra a more traditional edge.
Further information: here.