Ordino

Sornàs, Ansalonga, La Cortinada, Llorts and Ordino, five "quarts" or villages, make up the parish. Ordino is the opposite extreme to the hectic pace of Andorra la Vella or Escaldes. It is a fortress of peace. Farming is more in evidence than commercial offers or hotel complexes and it has maintained, intact we feel, its air of a gentlemanly retreat.

A good few years back, Ordino was one of the frontier points of the country with customs pots at Port de Rat and Port de Siguer, but the growth of the Principality has led it to lose those responsibilities and with the passing years its inhabitants have become an example of what country planning, the respect for the past, the defence of nature and a vision for the future should be.

Ordino

One should note the beautiful and meticulous reconstruction of its bordes, the Areny de Plandolit (a museum one is recommended to visit) and the parish church with its 12th century Virgin of Ordino. At Sornàs there are prehistoric drawings, at La Cortinada the Romanesque church of Sant Martí with its mediaeval frescoes, at Arans its famous cave with a profusion of stalactites and stalagmites and at Llorts its traditional chapel.

Ordino

The National Auditorium is a modern building and a splendid consequence of the musical tradition of Ordino which began with the legend of the local bagpipes, the buna, and has now reached the magnificent Narciso Yepes festivals of classical music.

Without doubt a visit to Ordino is an absolute must for a visitor who wishes to see old population centres which at the turn of the millennium have maintained the highest levels of ecological quality.