For over a millennium, humans have exploited the resources in the Pyrenees relentlessly to eke out a living. This fact is best demonstrated by the Madriu Perafita Claror Valley in Andorra. It is a dramatic landscape featuring craggy cliffs and glaciers. It is made up of open pastures and wooded valleys that covers an area of 4,247 hectares, which is about 9% of the total area in the principality.

The landscape features climatic, economic and social changes in Andorra. The continuity of pastoralism and mountain culture in the landscape is evident in the landscape. Even more interesting is the houses, summer settlements, terraced fields, iron smelting complexes and the stone tracks that dot the landscape.

The Madriu Perafita Claror Valley is an exceptional landscape situated in the eastern part of the Andorran Principality. The site was inscribed into the UNESCO World Heritage sites in 2004 to protect its universal value.

The upper part of the valley features an exposed glacial landscape with picturesque steep cliffs, rock and lake glaciers. Further down, the valley narrows and becomes more wooded. A secondary valley is also to be seen here at the point where Perafita Claror Valley blends into the Madriu Valley to the South West.

The site boasts of many traces of human occupation. The symbiotic relationship between man and land is clearly seen from the landscape. Among the evidences of human occupation in the area include the small huts with their vaulted roofs and the other farmhouses such as stables, cheese dairies, side barns, stores etc.

Apart from being an extremely travel friendly country, Andorra is also one of the most beautiful countries in the world. It is the kind of place every person dreams of visiting one day…perhaps to impress a fiancé or a spouse. It is a dream destination that should top your bucket list. Amazingly, it is not as expensive a destination as some other resort destinations. You will be surprised by how much comfort US$1,000 can buy you in Andorra.

By Kennedy Runo on 06/15/2015 in Andorra