L’Ermita

Facade of l'ermita

Last Saturday it was a warm day. For a change. I mean, it was not very warm, but an acceptable 55 F warm. So Mar and I decided to go for a walk somewhere new.

Dirt road to access l'ermita

We got in the car with the intention to drive to Scala Dei, a 12th Century monastery in Priorat we had never been to. On the way there, we passed the town of Gratallops and as we continued towards La Vilella Baixa we saw l’ermita de la Mare de Deu de la Consolació, the hermitage of the Mother of God of the Consolation, on top of the slate mountain where it has sat since the 12th Century. (You may have guessed already that everything around here seems to originate in the 12th Century.) We had driven this way a few times and seen the small church and the line of cypresses that announces its entrance perched on top of the yellow slate hill every time. And every time we had said we’d love to go up there. So we changed plans.

Old stone toolshed under the old vineyard

We parked the car at the bottom of the hill and took the dirt road that leads to the hermitage. It is about a kilometer’s walk. The whole time you are surrounded by very old vineyards that line the steep hillsides. We did not know it then, but it turns out those are Alvaro Palacio’s 80-year-old Cabernet Sauvignon and Garnatxa vines. The ones that go into his limited L’Ermita bottles, one of the most expensive and sought-after wines of Spain. At $900 per bottle, it is certainly Priorat’s most exclusive wine. There is a lot of debate on whether this wine, or any wine, should be worth that much cash. I am not sure on which side of that argument I fall, but I can be persuaded to believe that old vines growing on such a gorgeous setting must produce a very special wine.

Old vineyard on the hillside facing the town of Gratallops

The walk up must have taken 45 minutes or so. We took our time, went at our own pace. The towns of Gratallops, Torroja, La Vilella Baixa, and La Vilella Alta can be seen from different vantage points on the way and you can guess why an hermitage would have been build on such a high hill: it can be seen from every nearing town.

View from the hill towards Gratallops

When we arrived at to the top the hermitage was closed. I has been for a few decades, but we could go all around it and admire its old structure. After a few minutes we quietly started our way down to the car. We never got to Scala Dei that day, instead we continued to the nearing town of Cabaces, but that’s another story…

The cypresses that line l'ermita's entrance behind Mar

Vineyard terraces with the Montsant in the background

The Monsant and the town of Vilella Alta over my right shoulder

View of the town of La Vilella Alta from l'ermita

View of the town of La Vilella Baixa from l'ermita

Back of l'ermita