Valleys in the high Pyrenees of Catalonia and Aragon are full of small Romanesque churches, and the area around the Alta Ribagorça is among the richest. They were built in the eleventh and twelfth centuries by craftsmen working in what is called the Lombard style, with plain stone walls, round arches and tall, slender bell towers decorated with blind arcades, and they stand in villages that often have only a few houses.
What makes these churches memorable is their setting. They sit above narrow valleys of pasture, beech and fir, with snow-covered peaks behind, and the bell towers seem to echo the sharp peaks. The wall paintings that once covered the interiors were removed in the twentieth century for safekeeping, and many are in the National Art Museum of Catalonia in Barcelona, where the Christ in Majesty from Taüll is a masterpiece. Copies in the churches give an idea of how colourful the interiors were.
Reaching this area on a motorcycle means serious mountain roads. From the Vall d'Aran, the road through the long Vielha tunnel, more than five kilometres, leads south, and the roads of the Ribagorça twist through gorges and past reservoirs, with tight bends, short tunnels and views of high rock walls. Surfaces are usually good but can be damaged by frost and rockfall, and fog and rain are not unusual. Traffic is light outside July and August. The best months are June to September, when the passes are clear, and October for the autumn colours.
The villages are small and have very little fuel, so plan carefully: Vielha, about twenty-nine kilometres away, is the nearest town of any size, and Benasque and Castejón de Sos lie on the other side. Meals in the mountains are hearty, with stews, grilled lamb and mountain cheese, and sweet chestnut desserts in autumn. Churches are often locked outside opening hours, so ask in the village for the key or check the visiting times, and carry warm clothes, because the temperature falls quickly after sundown.