Llorts, the iron village of the Ordino valley

Llorts is where the story of Ordino’s iron stops being an abstract idea. It has the mine the ore came from, balconies forged from that metal and the track the muleteers used to carry it down to the forges. I think it’s the best place to finish a day on foot in the valley.

A stone village at 1,430 metres

Llorts is an official village of Ordino with a quarter of its own. It lies on the CG-3 above Arans and below El Serrat, and the council gives 1,430 m as the starting height of its walks. The tourist board describes it through its stone houses, its wrought-iron balconies, the Els Cóms fountain and its church.

The church is Sant Serni, a seventeenth-century building in the medieval tradition, with a rectangular plan and two bell gables, one above the entrance and another over the chancel arch. Inside is a Baroque altarpiece to the saint. It’s a five-minute visit, but it’s the handiest landmark in the village, since nearly every walk sets off from in front of it.

The mine and the iron route

What brings most people here is the Llorts iron mine, a nineteenth-century working that was only mined for four years and today opens a gallery of about 30 m. It’s on avinguda de l’Angonella and takes visitors by booking only, from June to October. Short, but a proper treat with children.

Beside the mine the iron route begins, or ends, depending on your direction, following the old muleteers’ track down towards La Cortinada past open-air sculptures. From Ordino you can walk up the royal road that leaves Santa Bàrbara, roughly 6 km and 100 m of climbing over wooden bridges and boardwalks, then ride the parish bus down.

Which mountain walks start in Llorts?

The serious one is the Angonella lakes. It leaves the village past Sant Serni and climbs towards the Mollera barns through Scots and mountain pine. It’s 4.9 km and 1,010 m of ascent to a cirque of three lakes with a hut at 2,234 m under the Pic d’Arcalís. Allow about six hours there and back, and I’d only do it in good weather between late June and late September.

Shorter is the Llorts to Sedornet loop, 4.6 km and 495 m of ascent, which climbs to the Roc del Castell and returns through the Sedornet meadows. To compare these with the rest of the country, see lakes in Andorra.

Staying near Llorts

Llorts runs on holiday flats rather than hotels. The council’s accommodation list includes several in the village, and at Sedornet, a walk above Llorts, there’s a glamping site with tents. If you’d rather have a hotel, Ordino village and El Serrat are a few minutes away on the CG-3.