The Poblet Monastery is picturesquely located on a small hill between olive groves, you can see the panorama of its towers from afar. We came from Tarragona by car and when we drove down the street along the outer wall of the monastery we got a first impression of the size of the complex. With its towers, battlements and huge gates it looks more like a medieval fortress than a monastery.

We arrived at a quarter past 11 a.m., a little too late for the regular guided tour, but we met a group from Switzerland and they invited us to join their guided tour. That wasn't bad, because the tour was in English, regular tours are in Spanish, Catalan, or French. First we went through two large gates and crossed two almost empty courtyards, then we had to wait for our guide in front of the Puerta Real, the inner gate flanked by two massive towers. The tour was excellent, the guide gave detailed information and we had plenty of time to visit all rooms, we spent almost two hours in the monastery. Although it is still an active monastery, large parts of the complex are open for visitors. We went through many corridors und stairs and even on the gallery on top of the cloister.

Poblet is a perfect example of Cistercian architecture and its aesthetic principles. No pomp or lavish decoration, but simple and functional architecture, large and high rooms with harmonious proportions. Wonderful examples are the refectory or even better the large dormitory with elegant supporting arches and the impressive length of 85 meters.

The Gothic cloister has a ribbed vault and a lavatorium, it reminded me of the Cistercian monastery in Maulbronn. Obviously these are also characteristic elements. The capitals of the slender columns are decorated with floral motifs and abstract ornament. There are no mythical figures, saints or scenes from the Bible as it is characteristic of Benedictine monasteries. And there are also typical Cistercian elements in the church or rather the lack of elements is typical: no crypt and no apse, but straight walls in the chancel.

But the highlights of the visit were the royal tombs in the transept and especially the magnificent Renaissance altarpiece made of white alabaster. The altarpiece is a huge stone block with plenty of niches and sculptures and finely carved ornaments, a real masterpiece (photo shows a part).

Poblet is one of the largest and most interesting monasteries I've visited so far. We finished our visit with a walk through the surrounding olive groves and we enjoyed the nice views of the monastery.