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History

The legend tells that there was a huge fig tree in the same place where the village stands up today. It was so big that the Romans' herds were safeguarded under it. Some years later, a castle was built in a way that the tree was in its patio". Nowadays, in the Wall Street, we can still watch at the remains of the fortified walls. Of the disappeared castle and of the big fig tree, the village took its name.

The first historical data about La Figuera is found in the donation that Albert de Castellvell to that Church of Tortosa. In this donation, it was mentioned as Mountain of Gibolhoder.

Gibolhoder or La Figuera was not inhabited until some years after its integration in the lands of Tortosa. Its population permit was written on the 5th.of December of 1182, three years before the one of Cabacés were written. It is one of the oldest population permits of the Catalunya Nova.

Then, it was given a wide township, that limited with the Montsant River, and with the Mas d'en Bas (the old village of El Molar), and with Ascó and Cabacés.
After this period, La Figuera was integrated in the Barony if Cabacés. This act was registered in the "Llibre de les Ordinacions de la Vila della Figuera", which is a book of the traditions that regulated the life of the village. It started to be written in 1310, and ended in 1734.

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Local Festivities

There is a mass on the 15th.of January (Sant Pau's Day), in the hermitage.

Other feasts are celebrated on the 15th.of May, in the day of Sant Isidre Llaurador, and on the 11th.of November, in the day of Sant Martí.

In the second weekend of August, the groups of Sardana dancers meet in the village, and there is a big celebration with all of them in the hermitage.

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Remarkable places

There are some notable buildings in La Figuera, but there is not any doubt about saying that the most important in there is the surroundings, the wonderful landscapes that can be watched from its balconies, and some other peculiar zones that make the village nice to visit.

There is a guide written by Joan Asens where we can read the following sentence: " if some good visitors of Catalunya have said that El Priorat is one of the most beautiful counties of El Principat, there are also some good reasons to affirm that from La Figuera we can watch at some of the most amazing landscapes of the region".

The view from the Hermitage of Sant Pau is one of the most beautiful views. The Hermitage is two and a half kilometres far from the village, in its north-west. The Mare the Déu de la Mola is also venerated in the nearest villages. About 500 metres from the hermitage in the west direction (to the peak of the mountain), we can visit the place where the Republican army was placed during the "Batalla del Ebro". From there, there can be spied about 40 Km of the Ebro river.

Some other interesting places are the "Coll de Solans", which is known as "Balcony of the Priorat", and the Serra del Guixar, or Escambellet.

We have to mention the "Roca Foradada", the caves of "en Vasques", "Tres Alls", and the "Mas d'en Nenet". They are natural caves made in the rocks, and some of them are very big.

The streets of the village are very narrow and sloped. La Figuera conserves the typical atmosphere of the villages of El Priorat. The Parish Church is dedicated to Sant Martí.

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Bibliography

- Joan Asens. - Guia del Priorat. - Tarragona: Edicions de la Llibreria de la Rambla, 1981.

- La Veu del Priorat, nº 13. - Gener 1992.

 

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