Sant Gregori de Falset

Ermita de Sant Gregori

Useful Information

photography — Ermita de Sant Gregori de Falset, Cataluna, Spain. Public Domain.

Location:	43730 Falset. From Falset follow signs towards N-420 Reus, after crossing the highwy turn right on single lane road. Gravel car park after 250 m at the end of the road. (41.1396009, 0.8356733)
Open:	no restrictions. [2023]
Fee:	free. [2023]
Classification:	Karst Cave
Light:	bring torch
Dimension:
Guided tours:	self guided
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	no
Bibliography:
Address:	Sant Gregori de Falset, Antiga Carretera de Reus, 43730 Falset, Tarragona, Tel: +34-977-83-00-57. E-mail:
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

1721	according to an inscription, the monastery was renovated.
1897	a rockfall destroys the church and it is closed.
1928	church restored.
2008	site under protection.

Description

Sant Gregori de Falset is also known as Ermita de Sant Gregori (Hermitage of Saint Gregory) is a cave church. The rock is a sandstone cliff which forms a huge overhang or shelter. The site was occupied since the Paleolithic. The hermitage was built at the end of the 16th or the beginning of the 17th century. But the original church was destroyed by a rockfall in 1897 and rebuilt in 1928. The church was built into this shelter, and has walls and a wooden door, but no ceiling, as the back wall and most of the ceiling are the natural rock. The other half of the building is the hermitage, the place where the hermits lived. The walls of the building are constructed of the same red sandstone as the rock formation, but it was not quarried on site. The red sandstone masonry has ashlar reinforcement at the corners. The facade of the church shows a wooden door with a semicircular arch with a window. A small porthole is located above the door in the wall, and on the left side is a bell tower with a gable on one side.

The site actually has two car parks, it seems it is still used as a church on special occasions. From the car park it’s only a 5-minute hike to the cave church. A trail leads up on the rock and offers great vies, on the church, the rock formations and the nearby village Falset. Furth north are more rock formations named Grau de les Torres. Also worth a short hike is the trail to the south which leads to more sandstone rocks and the cave Cova de Pastos.