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Sanctuary of the Mare de Deu del Mont

Today we invite you on a virtual tour of the Mare de Déu del Mont sanctuary, located on a mountaintop near the medieval town of Besalu. From here, from a height of 1.100 meters, open a stunning panoramic views of almost the entire province of Girona, the Pyrenees and even (in good clear weather) the sea!
The church owes its origin to the nearby monastery of Sant Llorenç de Sous, which first appeared in local chronicles in 871. The very same church Mare de Déu del Mont was built in 1311 and recently celebrated its 700th anniversary. Climbing to the top of the rock, one could at least a little, but approach heaven in prayer, which is why pilgrims flocked here from all over the Christian world. In 1539, Pope Clement VII granted 100 days of forgiveness to all pilgrims who would visit the Mare de Déu del Mont at Christmas, the Annunciation, Ascension, Easter and Saint John’s Day.

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Girona Flower Festival 2022.

Without a doubt, one of the dates not to be missed in Girona is the traditional annual flower festival Temps de Flors Girona. This once bright and enchanting event has always brought a special charm and flavor to the narrow streets of medieval Girona. With a fair amount of regret, we are forced to state that from year to year the bar for the quantity and quality of flower arrangements that decorate iconic buildings, houses, museums, courtyards and gardens of Girona during the days of this holiday is gradually decreasing. This year, the level of satisfaction with the festival has reached its lowest point – and this despite the fact that the total number of flower arrangements exceeds last year (according to the organizers, 106 against 87 in 2021).
We really do hope that this not quite pleasant trend will change in the future. Nevertheless, there was something to admire, let’s look and evaluate together!

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Monastery of Sant Llorenç del Munt

Монастырь Sant Llorenç del Munt

We invite you today for a virtual walk to the monastery of Sant Llorenç del Munt, which is located in the eponymous and very picturesque natural park Sant Llorenç del Munt i l’Obac northwest of Barcelona.

Here, on the top of La Mola mountain, at an altitude of 1.103 meters, already in the 10th century, the diligent hands of the Catalan believers erected the first church, which was later reformed into a Benedictine monastery. In those early days, the surrounding valleys were often attacked by the Saracens. These warlike, but lazy people decided that it was easier to plunder and burn the villages located at the foot of the mountain, instead of exhausting themselves with a tedious climb. So the monastery safely survived those troubled times. However, the energetic and inquisitive soldiers of Napoleon still managed to get up here, and, out of annoyance or fatigue (or maybe they just didn’t like the monastery wine), they demolished the monastery buildings almost to the very foundation.

Fortunately, the world is not without kind people, and the monastery was restored at the end of the 19th century, and since 1931 it was declared a national monument.

The ascent to the monastery takes from 1.5 hours, depending on the level of your athletic training, but the views from the top of the mountain are absolutely stunning! Well, you can replenish your strength after an excellent walk in the La Mola restaurant, which is located right in the building of the monastery. An interesting fact – all the products for this restaurant are delivered along a mountain path by hardworking Catalan donkeys!

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Flower Festival in Girona 2021

Фестиваль цветов в Жироне 2021

Hallelujah, it finally happened! From 8 to 16 May 2021, Girona again hosts the traditional annual flower and design festival Temps de Flors Girona. This year, however, A Cel Obert was added to the name, which translated from Catalan means – in the open air.

Yes, the coronavirus has made its own adjustments. To be fair, it should be noted that last year’s festival was canceled altogether. This year we were deprived of the opportunity to observe numerous flower arrangements (many of which were real gems of the festival!) inside historic buildings and their courtyards in the medieval part of the city; almost all compositions are in the open air in order to reduce the risk of a possible spread of a malicious virus. It should also be sadly noted the overall decrease in the number (and in some places – and in the quality) of flower arrangements of the festival in Girona – 83 in 2021 against 137 in 2019. Florists and designers, unlike the billionaires from the top ten of Forbes, seem to have been unable to increase their wealth by 20-30% during the pandemic, we wonder why?

Nevertheless, this wonderful holiday, as always, has added bright and rich colors to the appearance of Girona, which is already picturesque and friendly to travelers.

We invite you to take a short tour of the streets of Girona and see what skilful florists and design masters have prepared for us this year.

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Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2021.

С Новым Годом 2021 и Рождеством! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2021. Joyeux Noël et Bonne Année 2021. Feliz navidad y próspero Año Nuevo 2021. Bon nadal i pròsper Any Nou 2021.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2021.

Dear friends!

M2 Lux Real Estate Agency sincerely wishes you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2021!
We wish you peace, health and freedom in 2021!
We wish you inexhaustible vitality and the achievement of your goals.
We wish you only positive emotions and significant events.
Let this year be luxurious, kind, joyful and rich for you for the holidays, acquisitions, good luck and bright emotions!
And may your 12 wishes come true in the new year!
And we’ll be there. Thank you for choosing us!

With love,

M2Lux

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Monastery of Sant Pere de Rodes.

Монастырь Sant Pere de Rodes
On the northern slope of the most prominent east point of the Iberian Peninsula, сape Cap de Creus, on a spot with breathtaking views of the Mediterranean Sea, is the once mighty Benedictine monastery of Sant Pere de Rodes. By the way, this place is considered as one of the most visited places in Spain!
The first monks, attracted by the stunning views, great climate and almost walking distance to the beautiful sandy beach in the nearby town of Port de La Selva, settled here in the 9th century. Already in 944, the monastery had abbey status and became a center of pilgrimage for wandering monks from all countries of the Christian world.
As is usually the case, the issues of money and land ownership have long spoiled relations between the fraternal Spanish and French peoples, and problems arose, as always, among the unfortunate Catalans who found themselves in the middle. Numerous wars, attacks by North African pirates, as well as terrible epidemics that raged in the Middle Ages led to the fact that the monastery gradually began to decline, starting from the 14th century. Even the flourishing of winemaking in this region in the 17th-18th centuries could not change the situation and mood. Since the middle of the 19th century, the monastery has been systematically destroyed and was literally plundered in parts by zealous peasant neighbors and greedy collectors of antiques.
Fortunately, in 1930 the monastery was declared a National Historic Artistic Monument. Since then, numerous restoration works have been carried out on its territory in an attempt to revive the former appearance of this impressive creation of human hands. Today we have the opportunity to visit the monastery of Sant Pere de Rodes and understand what made the Benedictine monks acquire real estate in this particular area of Catalonia.

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Darnius Boadella Reservoir

Водохранилище Дарниус Боаделья Reservoir Embalse Embassament Darnius Boadella
Darnius Boadella Reservoir. 
Today we would like to tell you about another wonderful place where you can spend time pleasantly on a weekend.
This is the Darnius Boadella reservoir, located in the foothills of the Pyrenees densely covered with green forests.
The reservoir was created in 1969 after the construction of a dam on the Muga River, which flows into the Mediterranean Sea in the city of Empuriabrava.
Two settlements fought for a long time for the honor of giving its name to the reservoir – Darnius and Boadella; The Generalit of Catalonia, by a wise decision, put an end to this dispute, and now the reservoir bears the names of these two cities.
On the reservoir you can swim, fish, sail, paddle, and even take a motor boat. And most importantly – incredible landscapes. That is why foreign tourists can often be found at the reservoir – most often they are Swiss, Germans and Belgians.
We invite you to take a virtual trip to the Darnius Boadella reservoir.

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Gualba Natural Park

Природный парк Гуальба; Gualba Natural Park; Parc naturel de Gualba; Parque mediambiental de Gualba; Parc mediambiental de Gualba
Gualba Natural Park.
The Montseny Natural Park-Reserve, spread over a huge area of 30,000 hectares in the homonymous mountain range and located halfway between Barcelona and the Costa Brava, is a great place to spend a day off in the fresh air! UNESCO declared Montseny a biosphere reserve in 1978 due to the incredible beauty of the surrounding landscapes and the rich diversity of flora and fauna. Among the innumerable sights on the territory of the Montseny Nature Reserve, today we would like to tell you about the Natural Park of Gualba. It was named after a small town located on the banks of the mountain stream Riera de Gualba. This stream flows from the Santa Fe artificial reservoir located at an altitude of about 1,000 meters, after which it falls down in the form of a waterfall called Salt de Gualba. At the end of the 20s of the last century, it was planned to build a hotel with more than a thousand rooms near the reservoir, and a narrow-gauge cogwheel railway – cremallera in Spanish – was to pass to the hotel from the located below town of Gualba; unfortunately, these plans were not destined to come true. Today, on the territory of Gualba Park, tourists are offered to use local camping, to enjoy picnic / barbecue area and to swim in the pool in summer, in addition to a walk to the waterfall and along the river bed.

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Carnival in Playa de Aro 2020

Карнавал в Плайя де Аро 2020

Carnival in Playa de Aro 2020.

Attention, attention! The Mayor’s Office of Playa de Aro warns all residents and visitors of the city – from February 15 to 26, 2020 a merciless and uncompromising carnival will fall upon us. To prepare in advance for this natural disaster holiday, please read its program on the Playa de Aro website (unfortunately, the program is available only in the Spanish and Catalan versions of the site); at the bottom of the page there is a Descarga PDF link – you can download a file with more detailed information in Catalan.

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Live nativity scenes in Calonge

In a Christmas time there are traditional performances based on biblical subjects, live nativity scenes (pessebres vivents in Catalan), many cities of Catalonia. Typically, these performances take place in the old part of the city in the evening to add medieval flavor and achieve complete immersion in the atmosphere of the era of the birth of Jesus Christ. Local residents dressed in clothes of those times depict both biblical sketches and everyday plots from the life of peasants of that era.
We have already informed our readers about similar performances that took place in the cities of Castell d’Aro, Pals, Tossa de Mar, Perelada and Brunyola. This year we visited the live nativity scenes in Calonge, it took place on the site around the ancient castle of the XII century. We bring to your attention a small photo report.

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