Arties

Where the Valarties stream joins the Garonne, 1,144 metres up in the Val d'Aran, Arties takes its Basque-rooted name from lying between two waters. The Romanesque church of Santa María and the Gothic church of Sant Joan, with its octagonal belfry, stand near the ruins of a castle. Flower-decked houses and painted cows brighten the streets, and thermal pools at 39 °C sit beside the old baths.

Highlights

• Santa María d'Arties, an 11th–13th-century Romanesque church with notable paintings
• Gothic Sant Joan, with an octagonal Aranese bell tower and temporary exhibitions
• Thermal pools at 39 °C by Arata Isozaki, opened in 2016
• The Crema deth Taro bonfire on 23 June, a UNESCO-listed Pyrenean fire festival
• The birthplace of Gaspar de Portolà, now a parador

Summary based on Wikipedia (CC BY-SA), written with AI assistance.