The Madriu-Perafita-Claror Valley () is a

glacial A glacier (; or ) is a persistent body of dense ice, a form of rock, that is constantly moving downhill under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires ...

valley in the southeast of

Andorra Andorra, officially the Principality of Andorra, is a Sovereignty, sovereign landlocked country on the Iberian Peninsula, in the eastern Pyrenees in Southwestern Europe, Andorra–France border, bordered by France to the north and Spain to A ...

. It covers an area of 42.47 km², approximately 9% of the total area of Andorra, and is part of the second largest watershed basin in Andorra. The isolated valley is recognised as a haven for rare or endangered wildlife, and the undeveloped valley has recently been considered to be the "spiritual heart" of Andorra. It became Andorra's first, and to date its only,

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

in 2004, with a small extension in 2006.

Overview

The valley is a

landscape, with high pastures, craggy cliffs, and steep wooded valleys. It is bounded by mountain ridges to the south, east and west, with the southern edge running along the border with

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, and by an escarpment which drops away into the Valira valley to the north. It is isolated from the rest of Andorra, and can only be reached by tracks passable on foot. Dwellings, field terraces, tracks, and the remains of ironworking demonstrate the ways that the natural resources of the high

Pyrenees The Pyrenees are a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. They extend nearly from their union with the Cantabrian Mountains to Cap de Creus on the Mediterranean coast, reaching a maximum elevation of at the peak of Aneto. ...

were used by the local inhabitants over a period of over 700 years, through changes in climate, economic prosperity, and social structures. Two small settlements, Entremesaigües and Ramio, are situated in the narrow valley floor. Both were year-round settlements until the last 50 years, but both are now occupied only in the summer. There are 12 houses in all, constructed from local

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

with

schist Schist ( ) is a medium-grained metamorphic rock generally derived from fine-grained sedimentary rock, like shale. It shows pronounced ''schistosity'' (named for the rock). This means that the rock is composed of mineral grains easily seen with a l ...

roofs. Each house has a large barn for storage of

grain A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit (caryopsis) – with or without an attached husk, hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and ...

and hay. The houses and the enclosed areas near the settlements are the only areas owned privately, accounting for approximately 1% of the area of the valley. The settlements are surrounded by terraced fields, which were used to grow

wheat Wheat is a group of wild and crop domestication, domesticated Poaceae, grasses of the genus ''Triticum'' (). They are Agriculture, cultivated for their cereal grains, which are staple foods around the world. Well-known Taxonomy of wheat, whe ...

and

rye Rye (''Secale cereale'') is a grass grown extensively as a grain, a cover crop and a forage crop. It is grown principally in an area from Eastern and Northern Europe into Russia. It is much more tolerant of cold weather and poor soil than o ...

but now mostly for grazing. The higher fields are now giving way to forest, which also covers areas on the slopes where

grape vine ''Vitis'' (grapevine) is a genus of 81 accepted species of vining plants in the flowering plant family Vitaceae. The genus consists of species predominantly from the Northern Hemisphere. It is economically important as the source of grapes, bot ...

s were grown in the Middle Ages. The forests, also owned communally, were managed to produce

charcoal Charcoal is a lightweight black carbon residue produced by strongly heating wood (or other animal and plant materials) in minimal oxygen to remove all water and volatile constituents. In the traditional version of this pyrolysis process, ca ...

until the 19th century.

Iron Iron is a chemical element; it has symbol Fe () and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, forming much of Earth's o ...

smelting Smelting is a process of applying heat and a chemical reducing agent to an ore to extract a desired base metal product. It is a form of extractive metallurgy that is used to obtain many metals such as iron-making, iron, copper extraction, copper ...

, using local

iron ore Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the f ...

, took place in valley, on the banks of the Madriu River. The forge, a so-called Catalan style forge typical of the Pyrenees, was abandoned in 1790. The high pasture was grazed in the summer by sheep, cows and horses, with the land owned on a communal basis since the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

Shepherd A shepherd is a person who tends, herds, feeds, or guards flocks of sheep. Shepherding is one of the world's oldest occupations; it exists in many parts of the globe, and it is an important part of Pastoralism, pastoralist animal husbandry. ...

s spend the summer in ''borders'', small stone huts with turf roofs. The animals' milk was used to make cheese. Tracks link the valley to

Roussillon Roussillon ( , , ; , ; ) was a historical province of France that largely corresponded to the County of Roussillon and French Cerdagne, part of the County of Cerdagne of the former Principality of Catalonia. It is part of the region of ' ...

to the east, the

Languedoc The Province of Languedoc (, , ; ) is a former province of France. Most of its territory is now contained in the modern-day region of Occitanie in Southern France. Its capital city was Toulouse. It had an area of approximately . History ...

to the north, and

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

to the south; tracks paved with flat stones connect the valley to the centre of Andorra. After a period of neglect, many of the structures, such as the shepherds' huts, trackways, and field boundary walls, have been restored in recent years. There are no plans to build an access road, and the land is intended to be developed as a distinctive area for farming of high-quality livestock, and for limited tourism. Two of the

GR footpath The GR footpaths are a network of long-distance walking trails in Europe, mostly in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Spain. They go by the following names: , , , , – generally meaning "long trail" or more literally "great route". T ...

s pass through the valley, the

GR 7 The GR 7 is a long-distance footpath in Spain, Andorra and France. It is part of both the Spanish network of ''Senderos de Gran Recorrido'' and the French network of ''Sentiers de Grandes Randonnées''. Part of GR 7 forms the south-westernmost ...

and GR 11, as well as the GRP circuit of Andorra. There are several refuges for hikers to stay the night, including some which are staffed in season.

References

Madriu-Perafita-Claror Valley
from

Cultural landscape of the Madriu Valley-Perafita-Claror World Heritage
{{Authority control Landforms of Andorra World Heritage Sites in Andorra Valleys of Europe Ramsar sites in Andorra