Hermitage of La Pertusa, Lleida province, Spain

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A hermitage with a view

If this vivid landscape has you feeling pulled into the photo, take a deep breath before you look right or left. Or maybe just fix your gaze on the medieval brick ruin ahead - the Hermitage of La Pertusa in northern Catalonia, Spain. Glance sideways and you'll be greeted by sheer vertical drops to the basin of the Canelles Reservoir, across which lies the region of Aragon - historically a powerful kingdom that ruled Catalonia and much of the Mediterranean.

Nowadays, a steep, rocky trail leads to the narrow outcrop that hosts the hermitage, once the chapel of a long-collapsed Romanesque castle. And at the end: a vista of the beauty Catalonia offers beyond busy Barcelona.