Aixirivall, the village you pass on the way to Naturland

Most people who pass through Aixirivall do so by car, climbing the La Rabassa road towards the Tobotronc. That’s a shame, because on foot the village has far more to say. It sits on the hillside above the town of Sant Julià de Lòria and keeps an old core of manor houses and barns in traditional style.

Sant Pere, Romanesque that isn’t

The church of Sant Pere d’Aixirivall stands right in the middle of the village. At first glance you’d call it Romanesque, with its rectangular plan, timber-trussed nave and bell gable with a round-arched opening. Andorra Turisme explains, though, that it was built between the 17th and 18th centuries in that older tradition. The floor plan follows the slope of the mountain, and inside is a Baroque altarpiece dedicated to Saint Peter.

I like it as an example of something Andorra’s tourist board points out often, that building methods here barely changed for centuries, so plenty of later churches pass for Romanesque. Opening hours aren’t published, so ring the parish tourist office before counting on going inside.

Down through the old core

The nicest way to arrive is at the end of the old Auvinyà path. The route leaves Sant Julià, climbs to Auvinyà, crosses the river on a wooden footbridge, passes the Mas barns and follows an old cobbled track across the Solà del Mas to meet the GR7 at Aixirivall. From there you drop through the old core, between the manor houses, to Sant Pere, and a zigzag cobbled path brings you back into town. The whole loop is 8.5 km and climbs 517 m.

For runners and riders

Aixirivall gives its name to the parish’s short trail-running circuit, 12 km and graded moderate, which works for most of the year because it never climbs very high. It links Juberri, Auvinyà, the Mas barn and Aixirivall itself, where it crosses the La Rabassa road twice, before heading on to the Coll del Cerc and Llumeneres. On a mountain bike, the BTT 62 route passes Sant Pere on the Peguera road. And for a family day, the same La Rabassa road takes you up to Naturland Andorra.

Climbing the Peguera road

Bring a mountain bike and you’ll see another side of the village. The BTT 62 first climbs a kilometre up the La Rabassa road, then follows the Peguera road past Sant Pere and, after a natural spring that’s handy for a drink, turns onto the Font del Fontanal track, a kilometre and a half of dirt up to the highest point of the route at 1,475 m. From there the technical descents begin. It’s no gentle spin, but the view of the whole parish from the top is ample reward, and on the way back down you pass straight through Aixirivall again.