Andorra la Vella

Andorra la Vella is the capital of the country Andorra, officially known as the Principality of Andorra (in Catalan, which is the official language here: Principat d'Andorra). The city is located at an altitude of 1023 m above sea level in the Pyrenees, 199 km north of Barcelona in Spain, 186 km south of Toulouse in France (➤ map)(➤ map). Andorra la Vella has less than 25,000 inhabitants, and with the town neighboring to the east known as Les Escaldes, with which it forms one urban organism - almost twice as many. The city, known for a long time as a duty-free zone, and now also as a ski resort, is visited by about 2.5 million tourists a year. Access: from the south, from La Seu d'Urgell in Spain, by road N-145, and after crossing the border on the CG-1 road (via La Margineda and Santa Coloma ), and from France - by the N-22 road, and after crossing the border in El Pas de la Casa , via CG-2 and then CG-1; (➤ map)(➤ map).

The place where today's Andorra is located were inhabited already in prehistoric times. At the end of the first millennium CE it belonged to the so-called Spanish March, a buffer zone to protect the southern borders of the Frankish state against the Arabs. The settlement on the site of today's capital of the Principality of Andorra began to fulfill this role in 1278, when the Spanish bishops residing in La Seu d'Urgell and the French feudal lords of Foix, previously fighting for control of Andorra, agreed to jointly manage it henceforth. In 1607 the rights of the Counts of Foix passed to the kings of France and later to the presidents of the French Republic; in any case, the Spanish-French co-rule of Andorra survived until 1993, when the first constitution in the history of the Principality of Andorra was accepted in a popular referendum. Since then Andorra is an independent democratic state, today a full member of the UN and the Council of Europe.


Andorra la Vella is located on the La Valira River, southwest of the place where two rivers, one flowing from the north (usually called Valira del Nord) and the other from the east (Valira de l'Orient) join together to form the river known as the Gran Valira (or for short Valira, La Valira), flowing further, in Spain, in La Seu d'Urgell, into the largest river of Catalonia, the Segre River, a tributary of the Ebro. Andorra la Vella itself is the capital of one of the seven so-called parish (parròquies) of Andorra and one of the three villages of this parish (along with the aforementioned towns La Margineda and Santa Coloma). It is directly adjacent to the town of Les Escaldes (part of the capital of another parish, Escaldes-Engordany), forming one urban organism with it; the conventional border between the parishes runs along Carrer de la Unio street and then along Carrer de la Valira street, and then, just after the bridge on Valira, CG-3, the third of Andorra's main roads (next to the above-mentioned CG-1 and CG-2), leading north. The marker stands for the main attraction of Les Escaldes - the famous, already known in Roman times, thermal baths known as El Center Termolúdic Caldea; marker stans for an interesting perfume museum (Museu del Perfum). Taking the CG-1 road, the easiest way to reach the city center is to leave the CG-1 at the point marked with or .

The main monument of the city of Andorra is the building called Casa de la Vall - a former private fortified house, now the seat of the parliament (partly open to tourists - guided tours); nearby, it is worth taking a look at the historic building of Casa Bauró , today home to Andorra's main library (Biblioteca Nacional d'Andorra). The main church is St. Stefan (Església de Sant Esteve), dating from the turn of the 11th and 12th centuries and rebuilt in the 20th century ; lovers of Romanesque architecture may also be interested in the small chapel of St. Andrew (Sant Andreu).

The main commercial street of Andorra is Avinguda de Meritxell (taking its name from the name of a small town in the parish of Canillo, where the sanctuary is located, which is the center of worship of the patron saint of Andorra, Our Lady of Meritxell), starting near Plaça Príncep Benlloch and Plaça Rebés , and running from here east to the bridge on Valira, near Plaça de la Rotonda , and then to the point marked with where Avinguda de Carlemany (the main shopping street of Les Escaldes) begins.


In recent years, Andorra la Vella has become a tourist destination more and more often visited by people interested not only or even not primarily in shops and financial institutions.

The main attraction attracting visitors is located north of the capital the so-called the Vallnord region, including in particular a landscape park with a 2,942 m high Andorra's highest peak, known as Pic de Coma Pedrosa , which can function as a year-round tourist region (hiking and cycling), but is mainly a modern, well-equipped ski resort, smaller than Andorra's largest ski region, Grandvalira, but just as interesting.

Vallnord was created from the merger of three previously existing separate centers: Pal near the village of the same name , Arinsal, near Arinsal and Arcalis. The Pal and Arinsal sites are connected; Arcalis lies further north (take the CG-3 road for about 20 km through Llorts and El Serrat). In total, the Vallnord region offers almost 70 lifts and approx. 100 km of ski slopes of varying difficulty (Pal and Arinsal are considered easier, Arcalis is suitable for more advanced skiers, including off-piste skiing), as well as all kinds of winter attractions (snow parks, special attractions for children, dog sledding, etc.).