The Monastery of Santa Maria de Poblet is a haven of tranquillity and a resting place of kings. It was the first and most important of three Cistercian monasteries, known as the “Cistercian triangle”, that helped to consolidate power in Catalonia after it had been recaptured from the Moors by Ramon Berenguer IV. In 1835, during the Carlist upheavals, it was plundered and seriously damaged by fire. Restoration of the impressive ruins, now largely complete, began in 1930 and monks returned in 1940.
L’Espluga de Francolí, then taxi.
10am–12:45pm (to 12:30 Sun) and 3–5:30pm or 6pm daily.
pub hols.
8am Mon–Sat; 8am, 10am, 1pm & 6pm Sun & pub hols.
View of Poblet
The abbey, its buildings enclosed by fortified walls that have hardly changed since the Middle Ages, is in an isolated valley near the Riu Francolí’s source.
1150 Santes Creus founded – third abbey in Cistercian triangle
1150 Poblet monastery founded by Ramon Berenguer IV
1156 Founding of monastery at Vallbona de les Monges
1196 Alfonso II is the first king to be buried here
14th century Main cloister finished
1336 –87
Reign of Pere the Ceremonious, who designates Poblet a royal pantheon
1479 Juan II, last king of Aragón, buried here
1835 Disentailment of monasteries. Poblet ravaged
1940 Monks return
1952 Tombs reconstructed. Royal remains returned