The olive oil mill route, the liquid gold of the Costa Daurada, in the Priorat
The Priorat invites you to discover its wine and food riches through the oil mill route, where you can learn how PDO Siurana extra virgin olive oil is made. The experience is completed by a rich historical heritage, such as the Capçanes rock paintings, the Bellmunt Mines and the Charterhouse of Escaladei, as well as the spectacular natural landscapes of the Montsant.
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The wine and food map of the Costa Daurada is rich and diverse. Olive oil, one of the treasures of Mediterranean cuisine, also stands out, and the Priorat is the setting where its cultivation and production guarantee top-quality results. These are the extra virgin olive oils used by the PDO Siurana. Through the oil mill route you can learn all their organoleptic characteristics and experience the process from growing the olive trees to bottling the oil and, even, dipping your bread in it!
The various cooperatives that produce Priorat oil proudly show their work process. The Cooperativa de la Bisbal de Falset, the one in Cabacés, the Molí Miró Cubells, the Molí Gratavinum, the Molí del Celler Masroig, the Agrícola d'Ulldemolins Sant Jaume, Priorat Natur or Priordei will gladly welcome you and share all their knowledge about oil and show you the delicate process until the prized liquid gold is obtained.
If we follow the oil mill route, whether from north to south or the reverse, we can also enjoy other attractions of the Priorat. One of these places of special interest is in Capçanes and is one of the oldest artistic expressions preserved in this area: the rock paintings, which are a World Heritage Site. To find out what prehistoric people were like, there is a guided visit to the valley area and the parellada that will not leave you indifferent.
Another place we suggest visiting requires you to put on a helmet: the Mines of Bellmunt. You will make an underground journey inside the most important lead mine in Catalonia. But if going into enclosed spaces isn't for you, you can visit the Museu de les Mines de Bellmunt, in the Mina Eugènia, which produced the highest extraction yield and the best mineral quality in Catalonia.
And of course, an essential place in the Priorat is the Charterhouse of Escaladei. It is said to be the seed of what defines the region and its crops today, so to learn about its origins, there is nothing better than visiting this priory that lived a time of splendour that established vine growing in the region and even gave it its name.
The Priorat also stands out for a setting of great natural and scenic richness. A very interesting route is the one along the hermitages of Ulldemolins, found in unique and exclusive locations, which lets us enjoy the Congost de Fraguerau, one of the most emblematic places in the Montsant Natural Park.
Wine tourism, heritage and spectacular landscapes in the Priorat. A host of attractions to visit on the Costa Daurada!