Cardona

Cardona's castle was founded in 886 by Wilfred the Hairy and blends Romanesque and Gothic architecture, including the gilded Sala Dorada and the 15-metre Torre de la Minyona. In the 15th century the Dukes of Cardona were the most powerful family in the Crown of Aragon after the royal house itself, known as "kings without a crown" for their vast territories across Cataluña, Aragon and Valencia and their dynastic ties to the royal houses of Castile, Portugal, Sicily and Naples. On 18 September 1714, Cardona was the last place in Cataluña to surrender to the Bourbon forces of Felipe V, and its citadel later held out against Napoleon's troops at the Battle of San Quintín in 1810.

The castle is now a Parador hotel and contains the Collegiate Church of Sant Vicenç de Cardona, one of the finest Romanesque buildings in Cataluña. Consecrated between 1029 and 1040, it follows a basilica plan with three naves, a transept and three semicircular apses. The central nave is covered by a barrel vault, and beneath the presbytery a crypt extends across the full width of the apse. The church holds tombs of notable figures including Duke Fernando I and Count Joan Ramon Folc I.

In the town itself, the Gothic Church of Sant Miquel was consecrated in 1397 and holds two Gothic altarpieces in its crypt — one dedicated to the Eleven Thousand Virgins, the other to Saint Anne — along with a polychrome alabaster statue of the Virgin of Patrocinio attributed to masters of the Rieux workshop, and a baptismal font. Other features of the town include the Plaça del Mercat, the Torre del Botxí, the old bridge (Pont Vell), the town walls, the chapel of Santa Eulàlia, and the salt mountain.

There is no train line near Cardona. The only road access to the town is via the C55.