The Tower of Vallferosa, a 1000-year old unique fortification
If you have been to Central Asia the outline of this tower may look familiar and, most likely, it is not by coincidence.
The Tower of Vallferosa (“Torre de Vallferosa” in Catalan language) is nowadays located in a sparsely populated area in the highlands of Central Catalonia, less than 100 miles from Barcelona.
About 1,000 years ago this was right at the point of contact between two civilizations.
To the north, the Catalan Counties, to the south, the lands of Al-Andalus. This 33-meter tower, or we should rather say, two towers, since there are actually two concentric cilindric structures, was part of the fortified border that separated Christendom from the Islamic world.
The tower dates back to at least 970 AD but, in fact, it is possible that there was already some sort of earlier fortification or, at the very least, that there was some sort of influence from Islamic architecture.
There are plenty of towers, castles and fortifications dating back to that era, currently half-hidden in the forests and hills of rural Catalonia, but this one is unique, not just because of its scale, but also because of its great state of preservation.
To get to the tower you would either need to drive through a dit track (which passes through private land, so I am not sure it is open to everyone, or trek a couple of miles from the nearby Torà to Solsona road (which, by the way, offers some great views of the vast forests that cover this region). It is an easy, wide track with a bit of gradient, but shouldn’t be an issue for anyone without serious mobility issues, including children.
The tower has gone through some restoration work recently, but unclear up to what extent. One of the elements that has been added is a wooden staircase and platform that allows you to climb to about half the height of the tower, where one of its gates is located (although it was closed when I visited).
The tower is actually in much remarkably better state than the adjacent, currently abandoned, hamlet and its 17th C. church, Sant Pere de Vallferosa, which are in themselves quite a suggestive sight.
There are still some inhabited farmhouses around this area, but the village was abandoned at some point in the mid-20th C.
Although its location now seems remote, at the time of its construction, the tower must have been guarding a way for cattle and perhaps for salt (from the Cardona mines further north) between the uplands towards the southern plains.
The tower of Vallferosa is one of the few of this age and time that has made it to our day with practically no modifications, even a section of the original roof seems to have been preserved.
Note also how the door was situated at a height of 10m, which, in case of attach allowed the defenders to remove the staircase and make it very hard to reach without the proper equipment.
Besides being an interesting trekking excursion, a visit to the Tower of Vallferosa can be complemented by a stop at the nearby village of Torà (in whose territory it is located).
While the modern part of the village is nothing special, it has a, admittedly small, historical center that is worth a visit if you wish to do a technical stop to replenish supplies on the drive to or from the tower.