Tivissa

Tivissa is a municipality in the comarca of Ribera d'Ebre, Catalonia, Spain. It is located below the La Llena massif. As well as the village of Tivissa itself, the municipality also includes the village of La Serra d'Almos, at the feet of the Montalt mountains, and the hamlets of Darmós and Llaberia.HistoryThe area was settled in prehistoric times, and cave paintings have been discovered in several sites near the village.In Iberian times, Tivissa was an important community, and the name itself may be of Iberian origin. There are the remains of an Iberian settlement at Banyoles, some five kilometres from the modern village and overlooking the Ebre river. The importance of these settlements was surely related to their position on the route through the pass of Coll de Fatxes, leading from the coast of Tarragona to what is now Zaragoza.In the Roman period, amphorae made in Tivissa made their way as far as Rome itself, presumably to transport olive oil or wine. In the Middle Ages it was home to a castle, and about 1350 Tivissa became a walled settlement.Some remains of these walls can still be seen, particularly the gateways of Portal de l'Era, Portal d'Avall and Portal de la Raval, as well as of the castle.Main sightsTivissa's main church has a 19th-century Renaissance-style appearance, but the interior is in Gothic style.