Torà (; ) is a town and municipality in the North East of the ''

comarca A ''comarca'' (, , , ) is a traditional region or local administrative division found in Portugal, Spain, and some of their former colonies, like Brazil, Nicaragua, and Panama. The term is derived from the term ''marca'', meaning a "march, mark ...

'' (

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

) of

Solsonès Solsonès (, ) is a comarca (county) in the central region of Catalonia (Spain). It is part of historic county of Urgell The County of Urgell (, ; ) is one of the historical Catalan counties, bordering on the counties of County of Pallars, ...

, in the province of

Lleida Lleida (, ; ; '' see below'') is a city in the west of Catalonia, Spain. It is the capital and largest town in Segrià county, the Ponent region and the province of Lleida. Geographically, it is located in the Catalan Central Depression. It ...

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 ...

, Spain. The

urban structure Urban structure is the arrangement of land use in urban areas, in other words, how the land use of a city is set out. Urban planners, economists, and geographers have developed several models that explain where different types of people and busine ...

of the center has retained most of its original design, with narrow, twisting streets and blocks formed by rows of attached buildings. The Medieval town grew around a castle or fortified place (''Thoranum castrum''). A particular trait of the fortified origin of the town is the presence of a number of portals to allow several streets their pass through defensive barriers formed by the rows of buildings of the town and its walls. Torà is some 10 kilometers northeast from the more populated

Guissona Guissona () is a town and municipality located in the north of the ''comarca'' (county) of Segarra, in the Province of Lleida, Catalonia, Spain. With a population of and a rapid demographic growth (5,170 inhabitants in 2010) Guissona is the prin ...

(), a neighbor town that has experienced an important economic development in the last half century (mainly due to meat production and generation of a

meat packing industry The meat-packing industry (also spelled meatpacking industry or meat packing industry) handles the Slaughter (livestock), slaughtering, Food processing, processing, packaging, and distribution of meat from animals such as cattle, pigs, sheep and o ...

) parallel to an unprecedented demographic growth sped up in the recent years (from 3,060 inhabitants in 1998 to 6,145 in 2010). The municipality stretches along ''la Vall'' (valley) ''de la Riera'' (creek or brook) ''de Llanera'' (the Valley of Llanera's Creek) up to the confluence with the Llobregós River. Its orography is rather uneven with the lowest point at 430m and peaks rising up to 850m above sea level. The North sector features ''el Tossal'' (a kind of hill) ''de l'Aguda'' (L'Aguda's Hill), ''el Tossal de Sant Donat'' (Snat Donat's Hill), and the creek named ''la Riera de Llanera'' flowing across. On the other hand, the South sector features the hills ''el Tossal de Sant Pere'' and ''el Tossal de la Pineda'', crossed by ''la Riera de Cellers'', one of the ''Riera de Llaneras tributary brooks merging on its left. The town is settled by the left bank of the creek ''la Riera de Llanera'', near the confluence with the Llobregós River, at the bottom of the mountain range ''la Serra de l'Aguda''.Lleida.com
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In 1968, the former municipality of Llanera was integrated to Torà.

Districts and neighbourhoods

These are the

populated place In geography, statistics and archaeology, a settlement, locality or populated place is a community of people living in a particular place. The complexity of a settlement can range from a minuscule number of dwellings grouped together to t ...

s present in the municipality of Torà: * Cellers (South East) *

Claret Bordeaux wine (; ) is produced in the Bordeaux region of southwest France, around the city of Bordeaux, on the Garonne River. To the north of the city, the Dordogne River joins the Garonne forming the broad estuary called the Gironde; the Gir ...

(South East) * Fontanet (Center) * Llanera (North East) * Sant Serni de Llanera (East) * Torà nuclear town (South West) * Vallferosa (North)

History

Battle of Torà

There was a battle of the

Reconquista The ''Reconquista'' (Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese for ) or the fall of al-Andalus was a series of military and cultural campaigns that European Christian Reconquista#Northern Christian realms, kingdoms waged ag ...

fought between an alliance of Catalan counts and an army of the

Caliphate of Córdoba A caliphate ( ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with Khalifa, the title of caliph (; , ), a person considered a political–religious successor to the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a leader of ...

in 1003 AD at Torà.

Culture

Festivals

* ''La festa major'' (the main festival of the town) on 1 September, the feast day of ''Sant Gil'' (

Saint Giles Saint Giles (, , , , ; 650 - 710), also known as Giles the Hermit, was a hermit or monk active in the lower Rhône most likely in the 7th century. Revered as a saint, his cult became widely diffused but his hagiography is mostly legendary. A ...

, the

patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodoxy or Oriental Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, fa ...

of Torà, extended to the first weekend of that month. * ''La Festa del Brut i la Bruta'' (the street party of He-brute and She-brute), in the weekend previous to the annual ''Carnestoltes'' (

carnival Carnival (known as Shrovetide in certain localities) is a festive season that occurs at the close of the Christian pre-Lenten period, consisting of Quinquagesima or Shrove Sunday, Shrove Monday, and Shrove Tuesday or Mardi Gras. Carnival typi ...

). * ''La festa del Roser'' (

Rose A rose is either a woody perennial plant, perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred Rose species, species and Garden roses, tens of thousands of cultivar ...

bush Festival), in May. * ''Revetlles populars de barri'' (neighborhood street verbenas, country fairs) in the beginning of the summer, after ''la Revetlla de Sant Joan'' ( St. John's Eve on

midsummer Midsummer is a celebration of the season of summer, taking place on or near the date of the summer solstice in the Northern Hemisphere; the longest Daytime, day of the year. The name "midsummer" mainly refers to summer solstice festivals of Eu ...

Main sights

Municipal constructions

* Plaça del Vall (Moat's Square), the Main Square * Plaça de la Font (Fountain's Square), in the nucleus * Font dels Dolors (a public fountain), 200m from the nucleus * Casa de la Vila (the City Hall), a previous hospital located in Plaça del Vall * Museu del Pa (local Bread Museum) * ''Cementiri'' (the town's

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite, graveyard, or a green space called a memorial park or memorial garden, is a place where the remains of many death, dead people are burial, buried or otherwise entombed. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek ...

) * ''Aqüeducte dels Frares'' ( aqueduct of the frays) behind ''Casa Farguell'' in the place known as ''Camí dels Tísics''. Built with blind round arches, 120m remaining * ''Pont de les Merites de Torà'' (ancient stone bridge) nearby the cemetery, with a round arch * ''Pontet del Diable'' also called ''Pontet de la Sentiu'', the remains of an aqueduct part of ''Rec del Moriquers'' also called ''Rec d'Ivorra'', an ''

acequia An acequia () or (, also known as síquia , all from ) is a community-operated watercourse used in Spain and former Spanish colonies in the Americas for irrigation. Acequias are found in parts of Spain, the Andes, northern Mexico, and what i ...

'' (a community-operated

waterway A waterway is any Navigability, navigable body of water. Broad distinctions are useful to avoid ambiguity, and disambiguation will be of varying importance depending on the nuance of the equivalent word in other ways. A first distinction is ...

) started in 1366, in use until 1920. Outside the town toward the South * Pou del Gel (an ancient ice well)

Military constructions and buildings

* Castell de l'Aguda (castle): in l'Aguda de Torà (ruins, expoliated) * Torre de Vallferosa (fortified

watchtower A watchtower or guardtower (also spelt watch tower, guard tower) is a type of military/paramilitary or policiary tower used for guarding an area. Sometimes fortified, and armed with heavy weaponry, especially historically, the structures are ...

): in Vallferosa (highly restored) * Casa Castell de Llanera (castle-house): in Llanera (fortified manor house, very damaged, expoliated)

Romanesque architecture

* Monestir de Sant Celdoni i Sant Ermenter de Cellers (monastery): with three crossing

apse In architecture, an apse (: apses; from Latin , 'arch, vault'; from Ancient Greek , , 'arch'; sometimes written apsis; : apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical Vault (architecture), vault or semi-dome, also known as an ' ...

s and a crypt, in Cellers * Església de Claret (church), 12th century (highly reformed) * Església de Sant Miquel (church): in Fontanet * Església de Santa Maria de Llanera (church): in Llanera (expoliated) * Església de Sant Salvador (church): in l'Aguda de Torà

Jewish legacy

* Antic call jueu de Torà (the former

Jewish quarter Jewish Quarter may refer to: *Jewish quarter (diaspora), areas of many cities and towns traditionally inhabited by Jews *Jewish Quarter (Jerusalem), one of the four traditional quarters of the Old City of Jerusalem *Jewish Quarter (), a popular name ...

): in Torà's central nucleus :Location: ''Carrer Nou'', with access through two portals: ''Portal Nou'' at ''Plaça del Pati'' (

Courtyard A courtyard or court is a circumscribed area, often surrounded by a building or complex, that is open to the sky. Courtyards are common elements in both Western and Eastern building patterns and have been used by both ancient and contemporary a ...

's Square), and a portal at ''Plaça de l'Església'' (Church's Square)article about Jewish culture at Lleidatur .com, the official website of the ''Patronat de Turisme de la Diputació de Lleida'' (the Province's Tourism Administration)
/ref>

Other monumental buildings

* ''Convent de Sant Anatoni de Pàdua'' (a

convent A convent is an enclosed community of monks, nuns, friars or religious sisters. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The term is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican ...

devoted to Saint

Anthony of Padua Anthony of Padua, Order of Friars Minor, OFM, (; ; ) or Anthony of Lisbon (; ; ; born Fernando Martins de Bulhões; 15 August 1195 – 13 June 1231) was a Portuguese people, Portuguese Catholic priest and member of the Order of Friars Minor. ...

), built between 1697 and 1747 * L'Hostal (hostal), still in use * Església de Santa Maria (church): in Vallferosa (expoliated)

Gallery

File:Torà - Carrer.jpg, Torà - Street File:Tora_Xmas.jpg, Torà in Christmas File:Toracemetery.jpg, Torà - The town's

, taken from ''Avinguda de l'Aguda'' (l'Aguda de Torà Avenue) File:Cananuria.jpg, Torà - ''Ca na Núria'' ( Núria's house), ''Avinguda del Cementiri'' (Cemetery Av.) and ''Camí del Pont de Marites'' (Marites' Bridge's Farm Road) File:Torre de Vallferosa.jpg, Torà - ''Torre de Vallferosa'' (fortified

) File:Torà - Plaça del Vall - Holy Friday Market 1983.jpg, Torà - ''Plaça del Vall'' (main square) - Holy Friday market (1983)

Communications

Torà is along the county road C-1412. Coming from

Balaguer Balaguer () is the capital of the ''comarca'' of Noguera, in the province of Lleida, Catalonia, Spain. It is located by the river Segre, a tributary to the Ebro. The municipality includes an exclave to the east. Balaguer also has a sister city ...

, C-1313 towards

La Seu d'Urgell La Seu d'Urgell (; , formerly ''Urgell'') is a town located in Alt Urgell county in Alt Pirineu, Catalonia, Spain. The town is also the head of its judicial district and the seat of the Bishop of Urgell, one of the co-princes of Andorra. It is ...

until Ponts and then, the road C-1412 towards

Calaf Calaf () is the main town in the northern portion of the Comarques of Catalonia, ''comarca'' of the Anoia in Catalonia, Spain, situated on the Calaf Plain. The town holds an important weekly livestock market. It is served by the main N-II road ...

. Coming from

Cervera Cervera () is the capital of the '' comarca'' of Segarra, in the province of Lleida, Autonomous Community of Catalonia, Spain. The title Comte de Cervera is a courtesy title, formerly part of the Crown of Aragon, that has been revived for Leonor ...

, the national road N-141, then the local road LV-3003.

Demographics

References

External links

* Town Council's website
Turisme Segarra .com /pobles /Torà (portal de la Segarra a Internet)
article with some detailed information about Torà published in the County's Tourism Website.
Lleida .com /municipis
a borough's database.
Government data pages
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tora Municipalities in Solsonès Populated places in Segarra