The Sorroundings

L’Ametlla de Segarra is a hamlet of 30 inhabitants situated in the high plateau of Comalats, at the border of the Catalan regions of Segarra, Conca de Barberà and Urgell. Due to its altitude (700 meters) it is a great observatory of the plain of Segarra, Noguera and Urgell, as well as the Pre-pirineu and, further, the highest peaks of the Pirineu, you can see all the way from Vall D'aran to Cerdanya.

The first documented record of l’Ametlla date from 1077, in which the earl of Barcelona Ramon Berenguer I gave the tower of the castle, still standing today, to Acard Miró, lord of Tarroja.

L’Ametlla is part of the ancient natural region of Comalats, a high plateau of very rough topography, a succession of hills and hollows in which crops of cereal (wheat, barley, oat, rye) combine with vineyards, almond and olive trees, and forests and thickets of elm oak, Mediterranean oak and white pine. This type of vegetation brings about pronounced seasonal changes in the look of the vegetation, which go from the omnipresent intense spring green to the summer contrast of golden crops and woody greens.

From l’Ametlla, several tourist routes can be explored. The closest one, southbound, is the antique Roman way from Barcelona to Lleida; it crosses the Valley of the Corb river, visiting the medieval towns of Vallfogona and Guimerà, and connecting ahead to the route of the Císter at Vallbona de les Monges. Northbound, the Route of the Castles of Segarra and Noguera starts in Cervera and allows to visit the best fortifications of medieval Catalonia, as well as the Catalan Way of Saint James that borders the river Ondara on its pass through Segarra. Heading west, towards Verdú, you can follow the route of the Water Channel of Urgell from Vilagrassa to the lake of Ivars.