The Val d'Aran

• Location and Description: The Val d'Aran (Occitan: Era Val d'Aran; Catalan: la Vall d'Aran) is a catalan valley (620.47 km²) in the Pyrenees mountains and a comarca (county) in the northwestern part of the province of Lleida, in Catalonia. Most of the valley constitutes the only part of Catalonia, on the north face of the Pyrenees, whose waters drain into the Atlantic Ocean.
The capital of the comarca is Vielha, with 3,692 inhabitants (1996). The entire population of the valley is about 7,130 (1996).
• Curiosities: Did you know that "Val d'Aran" itself is a pleonasm? It means Valley of the Valley (val in Gascon and aran from Basque haran), a combination that reflects its unique geography.
• How to go there: The Val d'Aran borders France on the north and the Spanish Autonomous Community of Aragón to the west.
If you click here, you will see the Val d'Aran ubicated in the map.
• Wikipedia article: Click Here!



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Sagrada Família

• Location and Description: The Sagrada Família, is a large Roman Catholic church in Barcelona (Catalonia) designed by Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí (1852–1926). Although incomplete, the church is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and in November 2010 was consecrated and proclaimed a minor basilicaby Pope Benedict XVI.
• Curiosities: Gaudi devoted his last years to the project and at the time of his death in 1926, less than a quarter of the project was complete.Sagrada Familia's construction progressed slowly as it relied on private donations and was interrupted by the Spanish Civil War — only to resume intermittent progress in the 1950s. Construction passed the mid-point in 2010 with some of the project's greatest challenges remaining and an anticipated completion date of 2026 — the centennial of Gaudí's death.
• How to go there: Click Here! Visitors can access the Nave, Crypt, Museum, Shop, and the Passion and Nativity towers. While visitors could previously access the towers directly at no cost, their access is only possible by lift and a walk up the remainder of the towers, over the bridge between the towers and descent via the opposite tower by spiral staircase.
As of August 2010, there is a service for faster entry whereby visitors can buy an entry code either at Servicaixa ATM kiosks (part of 'La Caixa') or online.
• Wikipedia article: Click Here!

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Montserrat

• Location: Montserrat is a mountain chain near Barcelona, in Catalonia. (If you don't know where this place is, check out this map!) The main peaks are Sant Jeroni (1,236 m), Montgrós (1 ,120 m) and Miranda de les Agulles (903 m).
• Curiosities:
• "Montserrat" literally means "jagged (serrated) mountain" in Catalan. It describes the peculiar aspect of the rock formation, which is visible from a great distance.
• Montserrat is a spiritual mountain, in its top there’s is a monastery, named the Benedictine Abbey, that exhibits the "Virgin of Montserrat" (Verge de Montserrat, in catalan).
• There is a legend that says that the virgin was found by a bisbe. He proposed to move it to another place, but after trying it and seeing that they could not do it because it was too heavy, he thought it was a signal and a desire from the “Virgin of Montserrat”, so the sculpture should stay there. After that, they built the chapel.
• How to go there: The Benedictine Abbey can be reached by road, or by the Aeri de Montserrat cable car, or by the Montserrat Rack Railway. The lower stations of both the rack railway and the cable car can be reached by Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya train from Barcelona's Plaça d'Espanya station. From the abbey, the Funicular de Sant Joan funicular railway goes up to the top of the mountain, where there are various abandoned hovels in the cliff faces that were previously the abodes of reclusive monks, whilst the Funicular de Santa Cova descends to a shrine.
• Touristic interests: All the mountain is, in fact, a touristic interest! The Benedictine Abbey, the Virgin of Montserrat, the incredible sightseeing from the top,… You can even do Hiking and/or climbing
· Wikipedia article: You can find it here!

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