Getaway to La Ruta del Cister: Land of human towers and monastic heritage

If you start your getaway on Friday afternoon, we suggest you do so at the prehistoric caves in Espluga de Francolí, which are easy to get to and recommended for all ages. If you've got kids with you, they'll love them. The caves are open to the public from 4pm to 6pm on Fridays.

Afterwards, head to Montblanc, just nine kilometres away, and visit the medieval group of buildings, which surprises as the sun sets and day turns to night. Any time of the year is good for strolling around the cobblestone streets and squares full of arcades, visiting churches and palaces, and discovering the history and legends beneath the stones.

The only one of La Ruta de Cister's monasteries to be declared a UNESCO World Heritage site, for its majestic appearance and size and the beautiful artistry of its cloisters, as well as the tombs of the kings and queens interned there is the Royal Monastery of Santa María de Poblet, where you'll spend the morning, and which is still home to a community of nuns.

The monastery is fronted by the Plaça de la Corona d'Aragó, which opens to the impressive sight of the building itself, with its two central hexagonal towers, more suited to a castle than a monastery, that flank the Porta Reial. Once inside, you'll enter the cloister, an excellent presentation of a perfect living art-history lesson, displaying the differences between the Romanesque and the Gothic styles. The cloister leads to all the chambers where you can marvel at the beautiful architecture. The monastery was begun halfway through the 12th century when Ramón Berenguer IV conquered the land, and has witnessed both splendid and destructive times in its history. Today it is full of light. In the church you can see the magnificent 16th-century alabaster altarpiece, and the tombs of the eight kings and six queens of the Crown of Aragon who have lain here for centuries.

Afterwards, head to Vimbodí, about five kilometres away, where you can visit a glass museum and see for yourself how glass is made. The space is open from 10am to 2pm.

This afternoon you'll discover the oldest monument in the region that allows visitors. The Roman Columbarium of Vila-rodona was originally built for the purpose of cremation, which was used in the Roman world until the first third of the second century AD. The remains of the deceased, placed on a pyre of firewood, were burned, and the ashes were collected and stored in mud urns. Around the fifth century BC the urns were deposited in buildings with a circular or rectangular floor and inside niches or holes in the walls.

You can take a guided tour of the Coumbarium or even of the town in general by making advance arrangementss with the Town Hall (97 763 80 06), and if you are in town in mid-May you can participate in any of the recreational activities as part of the Tarraco Viva programme.

If you'd rather, you can visit the Royal Monastery of Santes Creus as an alternative to the Roman Columbario. Of the three Cistercian monasteries, this is the one that remains most faithful to its original Bernadine construction. It's one of the biggest and best-preserved Cistercian monastic complexes you can visit nowadays. Founded in 1168, protected by nobility and royalty, it became a centre for spirituality, studies and colonization of the territory. Monastic life went on uninterrupted until 1835, and now it's uninhabited and makes up part of the monuments of the Catalan Agency of Cultural Heritage.

We suggest that in the morning you take some time to get to know the area of Querol, a typical mountain town; the route you'll take to get there is along some gorgeous countryside as well. The town is rural with houses with lintelled portals, the Santa María church, and the remains of castle walls. If you haven't had breakfast yet, we recommend you eat in the town's restaurant. Afterwards you can visit the Aixopluc dels Castells del Gaià refuge. This space that resembles a porch in Plaça de Querol has five information boards and two models that explain the key role of this area in the creation of the Catalan nation. For a hundred years, between the 10th and 11th centuries, the river Gaià formed the border between 'Catalonia Vella' and Al-Andalus, and for decades during that time, many fortifications were built around the river.

If you're interested in the world of wine, we recommend you spend some time in the modernista bodega in Nulles, where you'll find various enotourism and gastronomic experiences in one of the so-called Cathedrals of Wine.