Activities in Cardona

The imposing castle of Cardona was built two thousand five hundred years ago and during the Middle Ages it was the residence of the lords of Cardona.

Centuries and centuries of history are hidden inside this impregnable fortress, which also houses the exceptional collegiate church of Sant Vicenç, a jewel of Catalan Lombard Romanesque architecture. Relive sieges and battles and discover why the lords of Cardona were called the Kings without a Crown.

Guidance and interpretation of the monumental complex of the Castell de Cardona can be done through 2 different types of visits:
General guided tour or dramatised tour.

Duration: 1 h 45min

Contact in advance to book.

The Salt Mountain is a unique natural phenomenon in the world and still grows today as the rain erodes it.

Its 120 metres are just the tip of a huge diapir nearly two kilometres deep. For an hour, you will go down to 86 metres and enjoy the spectacle of shapes and textures offered by the salt massif.
 
For years, the tourist area you are visiting today was one of the most important potassium salt mines in the world, Mina Nieves de Cardona (1929-1990). Today, the old mining site is the Salt Mountain Cultural Park, a large cultural facility that aims to disseminate the importance of salt, the geological exceptionality of the deposit and the use that man has made of this natural resource for centuries.
 
At present, the Salt Mountain Cultural Park offers visitors two different types of visit:
General guided tour or dramatised tour.

Duration: 1 h 30min 

Contact in advance to book.

The historic centre of Cardona has been a Cultural Asset of National Interest, in the category of historic site, since 1992.

Its origins date back to the first half of the 11th century, when a small village or suburb was formed around the market that was held at the foot of the castle mountain.

In the settlement charter, issued in 986 by Count Borrell II of Barcelona, it was already indicated to the inhabitants of the castle and district that ‘you will always have clean business, a lawful market and only one pure currency’. At that time, Cardona and its castle were a strategic enclave on the border with al-Andalus, and a crossroads that enjoyed an extraordinary regime of freedoms as a centre for the extraction and marketing of salt in an economically expanding Western Europe. The combination of these factors explains the development of this commercial burgh, which became the centre of an important market and meeting point for travellers (merchants, pilgrims, etc.) arriving from the Pyrenees and southern France.

The Cardona Medieval Centre, the starting point for a visit to the historic centre, was created in 2005 as an interpretative resource to explain the birth and growth of the town of Cardona, within the framework of the municipal desire to protect and promote the historic centre.

Located in the Plaza de la Feria, just in front of the Town Hall, this centre provides interpretation of the town and its historic centre. It offers a variety of activities and a guided tour of the historic centre of the town. You can also see the audiovisual presentation ‘Los Cardona, señores de la Sal’ (The Cardona family, lords of salt).

Duration: 2 h

Contact in advance to book.

In the different Aceite Mediodía olive oil tourism activities you can learn, discover and get to know: the quality of oil: what are olive oils (refined), what are virgin and extra virgin olive oils (olive juice), what are the properties of extra virgin olive oil, learn how to taste oils and how to pair them gastronomically. You can also enjoy the territory, the olive groves, the seasonality, the tranquillity and the landscape. In short, you can experience the essence of what Aceite Mediodía is and what it does, and of the area where it is located.

Duration: 2 h

Contact in advance to book.

Linked to the world of wine for more than eight centuries, Abadal is a family winery born of a vocation to produce wines that express the uniqueness of its landscape. Terraced vineyards surrounded by forest, unique traditional varieties (Picapoll and Mandó as main exponents) and clay soil with a strong presence of stone.

Duration: 2 h

Contact in advance to book.

Learn about the millenary history of Can Serra dels Exibis, dry stone huts, the vat dug out of the stone, the vineyards and its modest cellar. A tasting of wines produced by the oenologist, accompanied by some local wines. With Montserrat in the background.

Duration: 2 h

Contact in advance to book.

The Serra de Castelltallat is a very unpopulated area, with only a few farmhouses. The location of the Observatory, almost a thousand metres above sea level and isolated from any urban area, makes it a privileged place to explore the Universe. A series of activities are proposed to bring us closer to the knowledge of astronomy. You can come at night and explore the starry sky, or come during the day and get to know how the Sun works and observe it up close.

Duration: 2 h

Contact in advance to book.

Discover the history of a unique altarpiece. This visit will lead you through different spaces to understand the evolution of the place from the miracle of the apparition of the Virgin to the construction of the great Baroque altarpiece, taking you on a journey through the different episodes of history up to the present day. During the tour you will visit the Bassadòria, the church with the baroque altarpiece, the chapel of the Santísimo, the sacristy, the monastery cloister and the exterior spaces.

The geographical centre of Catalonia, the wind rose of Pinòs, is 15 minutes away by car.

Duration: 1 h 30min

Contact in advance to book.

Solsona, capital of the Solsonès region, still maintains its main attractions today, the calm and richness of its historical and cultural heritage.
The historic centre of Solsona maintains the same structure as when it was a walled city and preserves three entrance gates: the Pont, the Castell and the Llobera, as well as some parts of the wall in the Vall Calent and the Ice Well, where the ice was kept because it was preserved.

Duration: 2 h

Contact in advance to book.

The Manresa of today is clearly marked by the different historical periods it has lived through over the course of more than a thousand years. A heritage and cultural legacy that is explained through various corners steeped in history, where you can find mysterious medieval streets, imposing baroque mansions and sumptuous modernist buildings.

Among all the tourist and heritage attractions that you can enjoy, we present the following places and monuments:

Sanctuary of the Cave of Saint Ignatius

In one of the balmes, so characteristic of the Manresa landscape, enclotat, but with a frontal view of the mountain of Montserrat and the valley of the river Cardener, tradition says that Saint Ignatius of Loyola withdrew for a time to meditate and write the famous Spiritual Exercises.

Over the years, that simple coveta has become the most monumental and magnificent building in the city. On top of the natural rock, an imposing sanctuary has been erected, which has undoubtedly become the city's place of ignasià par excellence and one of the most universal references of the Jesuit world.

Duration: 3 hours

Contact in advance to book.

Discover Bages with Sílvia Rovira, twice member of the Olympic team in Atlanta and Sydney, European runner-up, three times Spanish champion. Born in Bages, she knows every corner like the back of her hand. Sílvia has prepared some routes around Cardona that go through Bages, Solsonès and Berguedà.

Come and discover these fantastic landscapes with routes of different levels and by road, gravel or MTB, for individuals or groups: routes dossier.

Duration: 2 to 3 hours

Download, below, the routes dossier.

These routes are aimed at promoting the acquisition of healthy habits through the creation of spaces and the dissemination of information, by means of information panels and other tools that encourage an active lifestyle.

Duration: 2 to 3 hours

Discover the 4 proposed routes, to be done on foot:
https://cardonaturisme.cat/ca/que-fer-hi/rutes-entorn/rutes-saludables-2/

Designed to introduce the driver to the world of 4x4, 15 minutes from Cardona we find a fantastic complex where excitement, adrenaline and fun are guaranteed.

Duration: 2 h

Contact in advance to book.