Masroig, el
Masroig, el
Contact
Ajuntament del Masroig
Pg. Progrès, 1
43736 El Masroig Tarragona
Spain
Opening Hours:
Monday - Friday: 9:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m.
Thusday: 9:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m. + 4:00-7:00 p.m.
Information
Location
In the south-west of the county, perched on the crest of a small hill, stands El Masroig.
Installations
The village has a swimming pool, sports ground, football pitch, social centre, pharmacy, bar-restaurants, food shop, bakery and a farm shop (agricultural cooperative).
Gastronomy
Its wines are part of the DO Montsant region. Olive oil, almonds, preserved olives and olive pastes are also produced there. A notable traditional dessert is a sponge cake made with flour and sugar.
Festivities
The winter village festivity is held in honour of Saint Sebastian on 20th January. The day begins with a communal breakfast in the village square, where a large fire is lit which continues to burn until the evening. After this the village children, accompanied by a band, go round the houses with large baskets to collect gifts or "guilandos". After mass the "coca de Sant Sebastià", a kind of sweet suet cake, is blessed and distributed around the village, also accompanied by music. In the afternoon there is the traditional dance in the village square, with an "auction" of cakes (coques) and the "guilandos" collected in the morning. Jotas are danced, especially that known as Coco Pere, which is from the village.
On the first Saturday after Easter, a festivity in honour of La Mare de Déu de les Pinyeres (Our Lady of Les Pinyeres) is held at the chapel of the same name. A mass is held and sardanes and other dances take place beside the chapel. The image of Our Lady is carried down to the village on foot, and stays there for eight days before being taken back to the chapel, again on foot.
The summer village festivity takes place on 24th August in honour of Sant Bartomeu (St. Bartholomew), involving dances, floats, a "correfoc" involving people dressed as demons carrying fireworks and a closing dinner, among other events.
Places to visit
The chapel of Les Pinyeres is one of the places of interest in the municipality. On top of a hill north-east of El Masroig is a kind of natural park surrounded by woods, with outstanding panoramic views. This spot, close to the protohistoric site of Puig Roig del Roget, was inhabited in prehistoric times, as shown by the flint discovered here. The remains of Romanesque buildings have been found, including the original church, over which the existing one was built while preserving a section of wall inside. This used to be the church of the village of Les Pinyeres, which has completely disappeared. Legend has it that a captain fell in love with a girl from Les Pinyeres and, rejected by her, poisoned the water, so that the inhabitants were forced to abandon the village and take refuge in El Masroig.
According to historical documents, the new church in El Masroig was started in 1829, and was almost finished by the 1880s, with only the two bell towers remaining to be built. Inside there is an interesting floor made of old clay tiles in the shape of a cross.
Atop a hill about 200 metres above sea level, on the left bank of the river Siurana, at a crossroads between the Priorat the river Ebro and the lands to the west, lie the remains of a protohistoric settlement known as Puig Roig del Roget. This site, covering an area of 1,200 m2, was inhabited at the end of the bronze age and in the early iron age (9th-7th century BC). Today Puig Roig is one of the oldest settlements in Catalonia of which we can see practically the whole ground plan, thanks to the excavation work begun in 1977 by a team of archaeologists led by Dr. Margarida Genera, which allowed the study of different buildings and numerous objects left behind by their inhabitants, today in the museums of Falset and Reus (Salvador Vilaseca) and the National Archaeology Museum in Tarragona. The hill on which its stands is made up of different sandstones and quartz conglomerates, hence the name: Puig Roig means Red Hill.
If you like walking, we recommend you try the old paths linking El Masroig with Bellmunt or El Molar, or get to know our drystone heritage on a pleasant walk along the Barraques del Cami Ral route between El Masroig and Falset. These paths were recently restored and are fully signposted.
There are two visitable wine cellars in El Masroig: el Celler (the cooperative) and Coca i Fitó.
Apart from these points of interest, the municipal area of El Masroig also has several deep gorges.
How to get there
It can be reached by road from Falset on the N-420 and then the T-7340; from Móra la Nova on the N-420 and then the T-7341 and from El Molar on the T-7340.