La Guàrdia dels Prats

Location
La Guàrdia dels Prats is an outlying village located north of Montblanc, at an altitude of 363 metres. The village stands in the Conca de Barberà region, close to the right bank of the Anguera River and near the main communication routes of the region. It is laid out on a small hill, with steep streets climbing up the eastern slope. Although no remains of the former castle survive, the upper part of the village offers fine views of the surrounding landscape, as already noted by Palau i Dulcet in 1932.

History
La Guàrdia dels Prats is first documented in the 11th century under the name La Guàrdia d’Ermenir or d’Eremir. By the end of that century, it belonged to the noble house of Cervera. In 1238 it passed into the hands of Guerau de Vallclara and, after his death, his widow bequeathed the domain to the Cistercian monastery of Santes Creus, which retained control until the confiscations of 1835.

Later on, La Guàrdia dels Prats was an independent municipality until 4 December 1879, when it was permanently incorporated into Montblanc.

The village is especially known as the birthplace of Sant Pere Ermengol, a Mercedarian friar widely venerated by the local population. After a youth marked by banditry, he repented and spent the final years of his life at the sanctuary and old convent of Santa Maria dels Prats, where he died in 1304.

Highlights
One of the most significant landmarks is the hermitage and sanctuary of Santa Maria dels Prats, already documented in 1224. According to tradition, Sant Pere Ermengol spent his final years there and founded a Mercedarian community. The present building dates from a reconstruction carried out in the 16th century.

Also noteworthy is the parish church of Sant Jaume, first recorded in 1185. Destroyed during the Reapers' War, it was later rebuilt. At the end of the 17th century, a side chapel was added for the veneration of the relics of Sant Pere Ermengol.