On a hill and offering stunning views of the river Ebro, rises the Templar castle of Miravet, surrounded by a wall 25 meters high. It is the most imposing fortress built by the powerful Order of the Temple in Europe. The order, however, fell into disgrace after losing the last Christian strongholds in the Holy Land. The French king, in collusion with the pope, got them declared heretics, so that their property could be confiscated. The Catalan king Jaume II followed in the footsteps of the French monarch and laid siege to the fortress of Miravet in December 1307. Inside, the warrior monks resisted for a year. Although they eventually had to surrender, they were able to preserve their lives, unlike their French brothers who died at the stake. Four years later, in November 1312, in the cathedral of Tarragona, the innocence of the Templars was solemnly decreed.
