Taüll is a mountain village at roughly fifteen hundred metres in the Vall de Boí, one of the high Pyrenean valleys in Catalonia, and the church of Santa Maria is one of nine Romanesque churches here that UNESCO lists together. It was consecrated in the early twelfth century, and its square tower rises beside a plain stone nave in the way that many valley churches do, with Lombard bands along the walls. Inside, the apse paintings that made the valley famous are, in the main, copies: the originals were moved in the 1920s to the museum in Barcelona. The reproductions, projected and painted in place, give you the sense of the original even so.
The road in is part of the pleasure. From Vielha, with five thousand people and the only reliable fuel for a long way, you pass through the long Vielha tunnel and drop over the other side towards El Pont de Suert, then turn up into the valley. The final climb to Taüll is steep and tight, with hairpins up through fir and meadow, and the village arrives at the end of a last steep rise. It is quiet outside the ski season, and parking is limited, so take it slowly.
The valley sits next to the Aigüestortes i Estany de Sant Maurici National Park, the only national park in Catalonia, a landscape of granite peaks, glacial lakes and streams. Even without hiking, the setting is dramatic, with snow on the summits well into early summer. The village has a few cafes and bars and the kind of stone houses with slate roofs that suit the weather.
Come between late May and October for the best chance of dry roads. The valley can be cold, and snow arrives early and leaves late, which means the upper road is not for winter riding. If you are staying the night, the cold clear air and the astonishing stars are a fair reward for the hours in the saddle.