Castell de Ribelles

Castell de Ribelles, a medieval castle located in the municipality of Vilanova de l'Aguda, is a significant piece of architecture that has stood for centuries. It was part of the fortification line along the right bank of the Llobregós. The first Ribelles documented in the 11th century, Gombau I and Ramon I, were vassals of the counts of Cerdanya. The fortress itself has a probable Islamic origin, with its first documentary mentions appearing between 1042 and 1075.

In 1149, Ponç I and Gombau III de Ribelles participated in the conquest of Lleida as magnats of the count Ermengol VI d'Urgell. Gombau III signed the charter of population that the counts granted to the city in 1149, and he also appears in the 1166 act of foundation for the monastery of Santa Maria de Bellpuig de les Avellanes. Later, in 1174, he and his wife signed the population charter for Balaguer granted by the counts Ermengol VII and Dolça.

Ownership of the barony shifted many times. Between 1404 and 1416, the convent of Santa Clara de Balaguer was the lord of Ribelles, before Ramon Ponç de Ribelles sold the barony to his second cousin Gispert de Ponts in 1418. In 1671, it was sold to Francesc de Montserrat, the first marquis of Tamarit. Following various legal disputes and sales, the castle passed to the Llabrés family, who live in Palma and remain the owners today.

The castle is a complex of buildings spanning from the 10th to the 20th centuries. The oldest elements are a square tower and the Romanesque church of Santa Maria de Ribelles. The tower's interior walls have a length of 515 cm and the construction shows three distinct stages. The lower part, up to 9 meters high, features large, well-cut exterior stones and a wall thickness of 175 cm. Between 9 and 13 meters, the interior walls become thinner, measuring 165 cm.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons