Gandesa and The Pilgrimage to Fontcalda

In May last year, I was on an amazing rowing tour down Spain’s incredible Ebro river. My tour group had just spent our first night at the lovely Port Massaluca Campground. High winds prevented us from heading back out on the water that sunny morning so we made alternate plans for the day. We decided to do some local exploring by car instead. And that’s how we ended up on a visit to the town of Gandesa and the Pilgrimage to Fontcalda.

Cathedrals of Wine

We decided to begin with a visit to the Centre d’Estudis de la Batalla de l’Ebre – Battle of the Ebro Study Centre. This museum is dedicated to preserving the history of the Battle of the Ebro which took place during the Spanish Civil War. However, as we pulled up in front of it, an amazing building across the street caught my eye. Outfitted with undulating roofs, fantastical windows and fairy-tale turrets, it was magical to behold. This was the Cellar Cooperatiu Gandesa – the Gandesa Cooperative Winery. And it was my first glimpse at the Spanish Art Nouveau architectural style, better known locally as Modernista.

I had expected to see a lot of it during my planned time in Barcelona after the rowing tour ended. But I did not expect to find it here in the countryside, nor in a winery. As I was to discover a few days later, during a winery tour and tasting at el Pinell de Brai, this was quite a common form to find it in. For there are approximately forty Modernisme style wine cooperatives throughout the Catalan region of Spain. It was there too, as you will see in an upcoming post, that I came to appreciate why they are called ‘Cathedrals of Wine’. Designed in 1919 by architect Cèsar Martinell, a student of Antoni Gaudí, the Gandesa winery is one of a number of his wonderful works to be found in this area.

The Battle of the Ebro

It was difficult to pull myself away from this wondrous sight. However, I managed to do so and entered the Battle of the Ebro Study Centre to learn more local history. It was here that I discovered that Gandesa was at the centre of the Battle of the Ebro during the Spanish Civil War. Here, Republican forces crossed the Ebro in the Summer of 1938 in an attempt to throw back General Franco’s Nationalist armies. And my fellow rowers and I would row past another memorial of this battle in Tortosa, near the end of our journey.

In the meantime, I was intrigued to learn of the many countries that supported the Republican forces. And I found their artifacts fascinating.

As we were leaving the museum, we came across a poster announcing a Pilgrimage to Fontcalda, about ten kilometres away. The giant, dancing puppets on the poster looked interesting so we hopped in our vehicles and headed out. We made our way to the abandoned train station at Prat de Compte where we were greeted by some colourful graffiti.

From here, we traversed the remaining kilometre or so by foot. We walked along a well-maintained path that had once been the old Zafán Valley train track. My appreciation for the beauty of the Spanish skies grew by the moment. This admiration would continue to develop during my forthcoming visit to Barcelona, as you can see in my series Sant Pau: The Other Modernista Wonder of Barcelona.

Sanctuary

Before long, we reached The Fontcalda Sanctuary, nestled among the mountains of La Mola and Crestall. The site is named after its naturally occurring hot springs. And its history as an outdoor, medicinal, mineral water spa dates back to the 14th-century. Its waters flow at a temperature of 28 degrees Celsius and contain several healing minerals. And on that cool, spring day, a number of visitors were more than happy to dip their toes in.

The Legend of Fontcalda

As we continued our descent into this little valley, a monument became apparent. And within its brick shelter, stood a ceramic image depicting the legend of the Sanctuary.

It is said that a shepherd from Prat de Comte came across an image of the Virgin Mary while tending his flock one day. He took it home with him. However, when he reached his destination, the image had disappeared from his bag. So he returned to the site where he had found it, this time with a priest. And there they found the image again. This time, they attempted to take the image to the church in Gandesa. But by the next day, it had disappeared again and they found it once more in its original location. And so, the village of Gandesa built a small chapel, and later a church, on this site in which to house the holy artifact.

I found it interesting that pilgrims had left offerings of crystals and other gemstones at the monument. I have long held a fascination with the healing energy of crystals. But this is the first time that I have ever seen them incorporated into a Catholic ritual. It felt like two sides of my identity were merging into one. Perhaps this was a little miracle for me to behold at this holy site.

Puppet Masters

We continued on, approaching a small square that was filled with people and music. And amongst the crowd, we saw two larger-than-life puppets dancing with each other in front of the church. As luck would have it, we had arrived on the first Sunday of May. This is the day of the annual ‘Pilgrimage to Fontcalda’. And the dancing, wearable puppets, a Spanish tradition also dating back to the 14th-century, are part of that sacred tradition.

Our Lady of Fontcalda

As the celebration continued, I made my way toward the small, neoclassical church. The Spanish sun made its stone exterior glow warmly against the bright, azure sky. Upon entering, I was greeted by a bright, peaceful nave, capped with a round cupola that glowed a cerulean blue. I’ve since discovered that this sanctuary was used as a field hospital during the Battle of the Ebro. I imagine it was a restful place to recover.

Our Lady of Fontcalda was there too, standing above beds of votive candles. She also stood in a small alcove situated above the altar, as I discovered upon finding a small staircase and making my way up to the second level. I’ve since learned that the original sanctuary and Baroque altar were burned down during the the Civil War, destroying the ancient image of the Virgin. Now, an alabaster copy stands in her place, surrounded by heavenly cherubs.

Sunken Treasure

Our pilgrimage to Fontcalda complete, we made our way back to Gandesa for another look around. Strolling through its streets, we caught sight of the church bell tower. As we approached its Romanesque facade, I couldn’t help but think of the sunken church tower that we had rowed around at Fayón the previous day with some sadness. As this was likely a glimpse of the beauty that lay below the surface of the Ebro at that site. Our stroll through the streets of Gandesa also took me back to Fontcalda when I spotted this little monument.

We finished our visit to Gandesa and the Pilgrimage to Fontcalda that day with a cool drink and light snack at a café located in this beautiful Art Nouveau building. A lovely end to a fascinating day.

Explore more of Spain’s amazing Ebro river wonders in my post: Adventure Rowing Down the Ebro: Chiprana – Mar de Aragon.