Beautiful Catalonia , Spain

We offer a weeklong Girona Challenge tour through the culturally rich and visually stunning Catalonia , Spain region.

Catalonia is an area of diverse landscapes, contrasting the coastline with the interior region. From the beauty and color of the coast, with its bright blue waters that shape hidden creeks and wide sand beaches, to the beauty of the interior region, with landscapes typical of the Mediterranean basin.

With spring comes the gorgeous green of Catalonian prairies soon to turn a glorious golden color in summer. Wheat and sunflower fields lend local color to this sumptuous scene. In the mountains, typical Mediterranean forests are filled with holms oak and cork oak. In between these two landscapes, the olive trees and the vines complement the typical Mediterranean vegetation. The landscape is dotted with a large number of villages, many of which are located atop many small hills. These are mostly villages with a medieval origin that still retain a marvelous charm, with their high city walls and steep stone streets...

There are also many noteworthy monuments of significant historic interest: castles, old monasteries, churches, and Romanesque hermitages are scattered all over the region. Some of the best archaeological sites of ancient Catalonia are found here too.

As early as the sixth century BC, Greek merchants established trading posts along the Catalan coast. By the third century BC, the Phoenicians and Carthaginians had settled in before being replaced, after the Punic wars, by the Romans. With the fall of the Roman Empire , the Visigoths swept down from the north and took over as of the early fifth century AD. In the eight century, Catalan Christians sought help from Charlemagne in repulsing the Moorish invaders. The period following the Reconquest is recognized as the origin of the Catalan nation, and Barcelona soon became the dominant political and military force in the region. By the 13th century Barcelona rivaled Genoa and Venice as a maritime power, ruling over an empire that encompassed a large part of the Mediterranean . This is Catalonia's Golden Age.

See this link for details: http://cyclingclassics.com/girona.php