I have to give unqualified credit to my friend Arthur. He has made Costa Brava his summer home for twenty years. The law of diminishing returns suggests that he should find it harder and harder to come across something not seen before. But in fact, he continues to discover fascinating places every year. One of his recent finds was Monells.
Monells is a tiny gem located roughly midway between Girona and the coast. It gets an imperceptible fraction of visitors compared to more famous attractions. The visitors that come are wowed by Monells’s arched walkways.
While the above can be technically considered a street, this next passage is a walkway underneath buildings.
We are still on the street level here – the houses are built with space to accommodate the arched passage.
The village is literally just a couple of streets converging on a wide main square.
A photographer lingering on Plaça Jaume I will undoubtedly take a variety of perspectives and close-ups.
Picturesque spots can nonetheless be found all over the village.
I rarely photograph flowers, but this cluster was too colorful to pass by.
Going by the photo timestamps, we spent just a shade over an hour in Monells. And we lingered! It’s that small. But strikingly beautiful.