OD TERRA ALTA: BATEA, WINE ROOTED IN THE LAND

The Grandma & Claire Fontaine in Batea, Terra Alta

Today, The Grandma has visited Batea, a beautiful town in the Terra Alta. She has chosen this visit to remember an old friend of her, Esteve, a great tailor and better person, who was born in this little town and died some years ago in Barcelona.

The Grandma has walked along its streets with Joseph de Ca'th Lon and Claire Fontaine. They have visited some of the most important wine cooperatives of these important winegrowers lands and they have tasted the local wine cultivated from a kind of local vineyards, 'garnatxa'.

During the travel from Bot to Batea, The Grandma has studied a new lesson of her First Certificate Language Practice manual (Vocabulary 11).

 More information: The natural world I & II

Batea is a municipality located in the region of Terra Alta and border with Aragon. Within his term also find Pinyeres peoples and Algars and several hamlets.

Its very rich historical past as from prehistoric remarkable items found. In this regard include the town of Moro's Borrasquer, but we must not forget the of Pinyeres and Algars.

In this territory the Iberians also made their mark, both new utensils used as funerary architecture and ceramic art. Moreover, the Romans brought prosperity to trade and communication routes. And, Arabs, left traces of pottery and buildings such as the Castle Algars and Batea.

Joseph visits the vineyards in Batea, Terra Alta

The medieval past was evident in the population of Batea and, indeed, its streets, arcades and arches have become a unique and authentic setting for the celebration of the Medieval Market, which takes place the first weekend of July.

Over the years, the population grows and does outside the walls. And we arrived to the period of industrialization, Batea enters the sulfur industry, which produces alcohol and neglects olive cultivation. Still, maintaining dedication to the vineyards and wineries are appearing new.

During the first quarter of the twentieth century, the population of Batea and other surrounding suffer severe water crisis. Rainfall in Terra Alta are not abundant and in that period was so severe drought that caused the emigration of a large part of the population and even having to carry water with cisterns to supply the inhabitants.

Thus, the population decreased but still noteworthy is the number of businesses in the town. On the one hand, who were dedicated to fascinate the distillation of spirits, on the other, opening cafes in the town as well as the construction of mills and ice wells.

More information: Turisme Batea

Of all the past of Batea, today visited vestiges which include St. Michael's Church, built in the eighteenth century, the old town or vila closa which houses doorways, porches and Gothic arches, Calvary, located in a sum and which affords a good view of the population and its environment, the Renaissance towers of St. Martin and Castilian, the ancient village of Pinyeres where the church of the Transfiguration of the Lord, the castle, church and ancient village of Algars, the Cruz del Valle located in the middle of the Way of St. James of the Ebre that goes from Tortosa to Santiago de Compostela and, finally Llavar source that was used to supply water to the population, are showing their laundries.

The Grandma, Joseph & Claire in Batea vineyards

Batea has an elegant historic centre that conserves porches, roofs and buildings from the mediaeval period. The wine capital deserves special attention, as the majority of its land is vineyard, and the municipality has various wine cellars registered as DO Terra Alta. The River Algars delimits the municipal area of Batea with the land of Aragon.

Batea has an ancient centre with a magnificent mediaeval skyline, with porches and arches where it is still possible to imagine the city walls that surrounded it in other times. The Carrer Major grabs one’s attention, with 14th century porches and pointed arches. This street houses the Hospitals de Sang Interpretation Centre, related to the Battle of the Ebre areas.

The Church of Saint Michael must be mentioned, and interesting Barroque-Neoclassic building built in the 18th century, and the Barroque-style chapel of the Mother of God of El Portal, built in the 17th century.

At the top of a hill, on the outskirts of the town, there is a Calvary with six Barroque chapels from the 17th and 18th centuries.

We must visit the Castle and the Church of Saint John of Algars. We leave the town on the C-221 road towards Maella. Approximately 500 meters before Venta d’Algars, we take a road on the left hand side that will take us to the foot of the castle ruins. A little beyond these ruins, is the Church of Saint John of Algars built during the 13th century.

We also must visit Pinyeres. We leave the town on the C-221 road towards Maella and at Venta d’Algars we take the track leading to Pinyeres, a village that was definitively abandoned in the 1950s. One highlight is the Romanic-style Church of the Transfiguration of Christ.

More information: Celler Batea

Wine is bottled poetry. Robert Louis Stevenson
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Wine is bottled poetry.

Robert Louis Stevenson