The monastery of Scala Dei

A visit to Escaladei is a must to discover the history and origins of the Priorat. Its story goes back to the 12th century, when Carthusian monks came from Provence to found their order’s first monastery on the Iberian peninsula, sheltering beneath the Montsant massif. With the disestablishment of the Spanish monasteries in 1835, the monks fled and the splendid complex was left in ruins, sacked by peasants tired of paying taxes and servitude to the monks.