Castell de Penallonga

Castell de Penallonga is a ruined medieval castle sitting right on the boundary between els Pallaresos and the neighboring municipality of Perafort, in the Tarragonès region of Catalonia. Over the centuries it has picked up several alternate names — Castellot dels Pallaresos, Castell de Perafort, Castell de Bofarull — each tied to whichever noble family controlled the site at the time.

Which municipality does it actually belong to?

The ruins lie near Pallaresos Park, essentially straddling the administrative line between els Pallaresos and Perafort. That line has never been entirely clean-cut, and the castle's municipal affiliation has been debated for years. The matter is settled, at least officially, by the Catalan government's architectural heritage inventory (Inventari del Patrimoni Arquitectònic de la Generalitat de Catalunya), which lists the site under els Pallaresos.

What actually survives on site?

Don't expect a recognizable castle silhouette. The main body of the structure hasn't survived in any form that lets you read the original layout. What remains instead are up to three wells and a set of buttresses — the reinforcing elements that once braced the outer walls. Their number and spread are themselves informative: they hint that the original complex was considerably larger and more elaborate than the scattered stonework suggests today. No restoration or conservation work has ever been carried out here, and none is currently planned, so this stays a genuinely unrestored ruin — no visitor infrastructure, no rebuilt sections standing in for what's missing.

What's the history behind the site?

The earliest known record of Penallonga dates to 1391, when King John I sold off various royal rights — including those tied to the castle — to Archbishop Ennec de Vallterra for 17,000 gold florins of Aragon. That was a substantial sum for the period, which itself signals how much weight the site carried in the regional balance of power.

For decades afterward the castle remained part of the Seigniory of Perafort and Codony. That changed in 1467, when Isabel Pelegrí de Perafort and Carla del Codony transferred rights over the castle to another archbishop, Pedro d'Urrea. Around the same time, the Tarragona cathedral chapter established a perpetual vicarage in the town of els Pallaresos — a permanent ecclesiastical office, underscoring how closely the castle's fate was bound to church authority rather than purely secular rule.

Who should visit?

This is a stop for travelers after unpolished, non-commercial traces of the medieval past — no ticket booth, no reconstructed walls pretending to be more than they are. Go in with that expectation: it's a historical site rather than a curated attraction, and a walk here means picking your way between wells and buttresses while mentally reconstructing the much larger structure they once belonged to.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Castell de Penallonga located in els Pallaresos or in Perafort? Officially in els Pallaresos — that's how the Catalan architectural heritage inventory classifies it — even though the ruins sit literally on the border between the two municipalities, which explains the long-running dispute over ownership.

What can visitors actually see today? The main structure hasn't survived. What remains are up to three wells and a series of buttresses that once reinforced the castle walls.

Has the castle ever been restored? No. There has been no restoration or conservation work, and none is currently planned.

How far back does the site's documented history go? The oldest known reference dates to 1391, recording the sale of the castle's rights by King John I to Archbishop Ennec de Vallterra for 17,000 gold florins.