Camarasa, Spain: travel guide to the reservoir, gorge and frontier castle of the Noguera

Camarasa is a municipality in the Noguera district of the province of Lleida, in Catalonia, set where the rivers Segre and Noguera Pallaresa meet at the gateway to the Catalan Pre-Pyrenees. Home to fewer than a thousand people, it is a land of rock and water, dominated by its great reservoir and dramatic river gorges.

For travellers searching for Camarasa, the Camarasa reservoir, the Segre gorge or prehistoric rock art near Lleida, it offers spectacular scenery, watersports and a deep history.

Nature and prehistory

The Segre enters the municipality through the Camarasa gorge, between the Carbonera and Mont-roig ranges, where it forms the large Camarasa reservoir, while to the south lies the reservoir of Sant Llorenç de Montgai with its wildlife reserve. A few kilometres from the village, the prehistoric shelters of the Cova del Tabac and the Balma del Pantà preserve rock art listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, evidence of human presence here since the Stone Age.

History and sights

Camarasa grew up around its castle, a fortress of Andalusi origin documented in the 11th century that guarded the frontier of the Christian counties and was acquired by Count Ramon Berenguer I of Barcelona in 1050. The medieval old town, with its narrow streets, surviving gateways and the ruins of the Romanesque church of Sant Miquel, recalls those centuries, while the small village of the Baronia de Sant Oïsme, with its castle and Romanesque church above the reservoir, adds to the area's charm.

Practical information

Camarasa lies about 45 kilometres north of the city of Lleida and close to Balaguer, at the doorstep of the Montsec range, the Mont-rebei gorge and the Montsec astronomical park, a renowned dark-sky destination.