Miravet
A small, picturesque town on the Ebro: houses on a cliff, a Templar castle, a river ferry and a bakery with wood-fired bread.
The first stop on our day trip around Catalonia was Miravet, a small, picturesque town on the banks of the Ebro.
I won’t say there’s a lot to do here, but it’s absolutely worth seeing: the houses sit right on a cliff that drops down to the river, and that view alone is worth the trip.
The castle sits at the top. In 1153 Count Ramon Berenguer IV took Miravet from the Moors and handed it to the Knights Templar, who turned the castle into a fortress-monastery.
Down below, a ferry crosses the river: the traditional pas de barca, which is pushed across the Ebro by the current. I never figured out which days it runs or how it works, so check before you go.
I also think kayaking down the Ebro here must be really, really fun. It’s already on my list for next time.
Coffee and snacks are tricky: there are hardly any places for them. There is, however, the Vives bakery (Google Maps), which bakes bread in a wood-fired oven. Sadly, it was closed when we came. So I dream of going back, buying bread there and having a family picnic on the green lawn by the river.
One more thing: there are lots of ceramics shops around. We spotted one in the town itself, but there are quite a few along the road. As far as I understand, it’s down to the local clay the pottery is made from. Pottery is an old tradition here: at the entrance to the old town there’s a whole potters’ quarter, the Raval dels Terrissers, where workshops are still active.
💡 Have your coffee on the way. And if you’re planning a picnic, check in advance that the bakery is open.
🌐 Translated from Russian; the translation hasn't been proofread yet.