Solsona - a quiet escape from Barcelona

If you start feeling like a packed sardine on the Rambla in Barcelona, take an excursion outside the city: simply too many to count, there are plenty of peaceful escapes into the less-visited sites of Catalonia that will reconnect you with the history of this glorious province.

Solsona is a well-preserved medieval town with a fortified centre, stone paved roads, old shops, houses and fountains that take you back a few hundred years without compromise.  A cathedral was built around the 11th century, with one of the most important Romanesque sculpture on its altar - the virgin of the Cloister.   The rest of the town revolves around the Gothic fountains that were built around the 15th century.  There is a very interesting museum called the Museum of Salt, where the salt crystals are harvested from Cardona.  (You can see the salt farms from the Cardona castle on the hill.)

Outside the gate is a sleepy restaurant where I took a little lunch, looking over the imposing cathedral from outside the fortress wall.  Not a bad way to spend an afternoon! 

Solsona is a little further northwest, or about 1 ½-hour drive from Barcelona.  Unfortunately, it is not reachable by train (nearest train station is Manresa, about 30 minutes' drive).  No wonder tourists were few and monuments so well preserved.   

Solsona's official website: http://www.ajsolsona.cat/ca/history-and-traditions

來到西班牙，如果你已厭倦了在巴塞隆拿市中心的遊客區做罐頭裏的沙甸魚，何不走出人來人往的大城市，到市郊呼吸一口新鮮的空氣呢？鄰近巴塞隆拿市，已經有好幾個很好的選擇，Solsona 就是其中之一。

Solsona 是一個中古小鎮，至今仍然保存得很好，中古時期的堡壘、由小石塊砌成的小路、舊商店、路邊的噴泉，這一切都給你好像回到幾百年前的感覺。這小鎮的教堂建於十一世紀，中間放著其中一個當今最有名的羅馬式祭壇，來到 Solsona 的遊人必定不會錯過這古老的教堂。除了小鎮中央的教堂，你亦不妨去找尋在小鎮內的幾個十五世紀歌德式的噴泉，它們都是這個小鎮的歴史見證。這個小鎮另一個有趣的景點是一間介紹鹽的博物館，這裏的鹽從附近位於 Cardona 的鹽田取得的，有時間的話不妨到這裏參觀一下。

早上遊覧過小鎮後，我在城門外的一間精緻小餐館用午膳。從城牆外可以飽覧小鎮教堂的景色，我一邊用膳一邊去享受遠離煩囂的寧靜。

 

Solsona 位於 Cardona 的西北部，距離巴塞隆拿大約一小時半的車程。可惜的是，這裏最近的火車站是距離大約三十分鐘車程的 Manresa，難怪這裏遊人不多而四周的自然環境都得以完整地保存下來。

Solsona 的官方網站： http://www.ajsolsona.cat/ca/history-and-traditions