The Route of the Cister
The Route of the Cister is conformed by 65 municipalities of the regions of Alt Camp, the Conca de Barberà and the Urgell. The monasteries of Santes Creus, in the Alt Camp; Poblet, in the Conca de Barberà; and Vallbona de los Monges, in Urgell, were all founded during the XII century, and constitute one of the most important inhabited groups of buildings of the Cistercians in Europe.
Monastery of Santes Creus: It is the only monastery that is not inhabited in the Route of the Cister. It was founded in the year 1150 and in 1835, during the epoch when the feudal rights were unamortized, all its monastic life finished until the present days.
Monastery of Poblet: It is the biggest inhabited Cistercian monastery of Europe. In 1991 it was declared part of the Human Heritage by the UNESCO, distinction that not many other monuments or zones of the world have. It was founded in the year 1150 and as a consequence of the dissentailment of Mendizábal in the year 1835, the monks abandoned the monastery. Nevertheless, in 1940 they occupied it again to restore it and preserve it.
Monastery of Vallbona De Los Monges: It is the only feminine monastery of the Route and the only one that has maintained without interruption its community that was constituted in 1176 in the order of the Cistercians. It was declared historical artistic monument in 1931. Moreover, it enables the visit to those who wish to spend a night in this historical enclave to know the monastic life of Vallbona.
