Ordino is the third parish of Principality of Andorra. It is one of the most important centers in Andorra.

Ordino has a distinguished history and has played an important role in the development of the country. In earlier times it was the Parish of the powerful Andorra cases pairals or elders’houses. Of the noble mansions the most important are that which was the birthplace of Don Guillem Areny de Plandolit, that of the Fiter-Riba family (where Mossén Cinto Verdaguer lived).

Of the monuments the church must be singled out for mention, (it has a graceful belltower), as must the town hall building. Nearby is the cave known as “the Cova de Casamanya”, and the ruins of the castle of “la Meca”.

Andorra’s National Auditory opened in September 1991.

The building features structures dating back to the 30’s. Towards the end of the 80’s, an auditory was built in line with the traditions of the parish with classical music festivals. The Auditory is a concert hall, which is in fact open on all four sides so that the audience can be seated on all sides of the stage when watching the show. The hall seats up to 514 people between the main floor, the first and second floor galleries, the centre and the main gallery. The inside of the hall is overlaid with wood and adapted to ensure the best possible acoustics. From the moment it began to operate as such, the hall has hosted ballet and contemporary dance shows: classical music concerts, gospel, Catalan singing, ethnic music, flamenco singing, etc. with important artists featured, such Josep Carreras, Montserrat Caballé, Narciso Yepes, Cristina Hoyos, Lluís Llach, Hermana Marie Keyrouz, Cesarea Evora, Zap Mama, Jean Pierre Rampal, Bulgarian Radio-Television women’s choir, etc. Andorra’s National Auditory has a steady programme and offers both public and private establishments the possibility to hold their events on the premises.

The need to communicate is inherent to mankind, and communication over long distances has been a challenge for all societies. From the first shout to modern technology, there is a great history of overcoming obstacles. The formation of the Andorran postal system is closely linked to recent Andorran history, and has contributed to the transformation of lifestyles in Andorra. From the traginers and vianants (porters) to postmen and modern technology, communication in all its forms has evolved around the requirements of society, transforming the postal system and its organisation in each period, endowing it with new, more efficient means and processes for transmitting messages.

Andorra is unusual in being a border state: this postal zone was first managed by the Spanish Post Office as part of the province Lerida, then issued her own stamps, produced by the national factories of Spain and France, for posting abroad, since transmission of letters and packets inside the country is free.

The museum introduces the visitor to the postal world through an audio-visual presentation before touring the history of Andorra’s postal system. For the keenest, the whole Andorran philatelic collection from 1928 is on exhibit, as are the processes of stamp elaboration and printing and various philatelic curiosities.

Nicolaï Siadristy, considered the world’s best microminiaturists, invites you to visit his permanent museum in Ordino.

His works can only be contemplated through a microscope.

Is it possible to pass a camel through the eye of a needle? Siadristy passes a whole caravan through it, as well as a palm tree and a pyramid.

Other works include a tray complete with a wine bottle and glasses set on a grain of salt, the human being through life, symbolised by a gold thread 300 times thinner than a human hair and many others.

Learning about the windbox and the hydraulic ram, discovering iron in the rocks or water and visiting a mine in the Vall d’Ordino are some of the possibilities that the Principality offers its visitors. The iron route highlights what was Andorra’s main industry for centuries: mining.

The aim of the route is to show, step by step, the stages in the production of iron, from its extraction in the mines to its final destination. The interest in learning about the history and traditional use of the mines and the Andorran steel industry, especially from the 17th to 19th centuries, is combined with enjoyment of a surprising landscape. On this visit you can see the reality of the geography of Andorra and identify iron in places you would never have noticed before, for example, in the colour of the rocks or the composition of the water.

Between Ordino and La Massana is the Farga Rossell forge, owned by Joaquim de Riba, which has now been converted into a visitors’ centre. It was in operation from 1846 and, along with the Farga Areny forge, was the last to close down, in 1876. Its buildings are testimony to the iron manufacturing process and show the development of the techniques for obtaining the mineral as well as the history of the forge itself.

The route continues to the Vall d’Ordino, and the Mina de Llorts mine. This is a small mine, which was opened by specialists from L’Arieja at the end of the 19th century to try to find new mineral reserves. However, it never went into commercial operation. It has 30 metres of galleries and the visit takes around 20 minutes.

This house belonged to one of Andorra’s few aristocratic families, which was one of the most influential in the 18th and 19th centuries.

The property of the Areny-Plandolits included several forges, and some of the family members rose to the highest levels of representation. The family home, a great building from the first half of the 17th century, which was lived in until 1953, follows the building patterns of the Catalan masies of the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries.

Of particular interest are the music room, the chapel, and the library, and the contrast between traditional and imported furniture is surprising.

The building is of Romanesque origin and gives evidence to various additions and modifications to its formal architecture. The church of Sant Martí is included in the Men of Iron itinerary because the railings of the main altar and of the side chapels are examples of products made with iron from the forges located in different areas of Andorra.

There are other important elements in this church, such as the Romanesque paintings from the end of the 12th century, the Baroque altar dedicated to the patron saint of the church, the Baroque retables in the side chapels, the wood furniture from the 17th century, the carillon and the confessional.

The Nature Interpretation Centre is the door to enter the valley of Ordino. It contains a conceptual multi-image presentation on the development of the landscape with man, an interactive exhibition and an environmental education workshop with the support of UNESCO. The centre invites you to go further following the river along the old highway or to the Sorteny Valley Nature Park, on theme circuits accompanied by an interpreter guide who will open the unpublished book of the Vall d’Ordino for you. In winter explore the same circuits on snowshoes following the routes of the old explorers.

The Interpretation centre of Nature set out to interpret the cultural landscape (nature and culture) of the valley of Ordino, reveals meanings and gives the keys to begin a dialog with the natural and cultural heritage of the valley so as to have a uniquely enriching experience.

The only establishment of its kind in the world, the Badge Museum houses over 42,000 different badges through which visitors can remember the most important events in history, visit most places on the planet, take a trip down memory lane with the children’s badge section and envisage a vast range of sports. There are also computer terminals, which visitors can use to view videos of the museum’s television appearances and the main events related to the badge collection.

La Cortinada lies near Ordino. This small town to played an important role in the history of Andorra as may be seen by the existence of the various mansions still standing, among which is numbered Can Pal with its noble architecture. A monument of great interest is the Romanesque church, built in the 12th century. The church has a fine Lombard bell-tower and inside the nave is remarkable for its harmony of forms. Of the greatest interest too are the Romanesque frescoes discovered in 1967 in a chapel of the church, depicting Saint Martin of Tours, Saint Brice together with other figures.

Llorts is an attractive village which still conserves its quaint medieval airs. It is situated some three kilometres from La Cortinada. Surrounded by a landscape of singular beauty, its lands are watered by the river Llorts coming from the lake s of Llengonella. It is a town which possesses several interesting monuments. Several houses are of ancient architectural design testify to the important role which Llorts played in the days gone by. The church must also be mentioned, with its bell-tower and double bellgable. In the interior of the building there is a fine Crucifix and a valuable baroque altar which is enclosed by a fine ironwork screen.

This mountain village is linked to the name of the famous Catalan poet Verdaguer, who sang the praises of the rivers Sorteny and Valira in the lines of his celebrated Canigó. The rivers have their sources in the lakes of Tristaina. It is a residential zone of singular attraction. El Serrat has a great future as a center of winter tourism due to its strategic position as a link between France via the Port del Rat. The beauty of typically Pyrenean landscape in which the town is situated, surrounded by mountains frequently snowcapped, adds to its attraction as a tourist center.

In a small, mountainous country such as Andorra, the preservation of biodiversity and the sustainable management of natural resources are vital. Rather than a mere local or national initiative, the policy in question is interregional and entails the conservation of the natural and cultural heritage of the Pyrenees.

The valley of Sorteny (which means “the plain of the witches”, according to Anglada Sorteny) is of unique interest from a scientific, historical and educational point of view, as well as in aesthetic, scenic and recreational terms. The Valle de Sorteny Natural Park was thus created on 23 June 1999, by Community Decree, in order to protect the singularity and integrity of the area’s natural values, to maintain the functional structure of its ecosystems and to promote scientific research and environmental education.

The Sorteny Natural Park boasts tremendous scenic and botanical resources, with over 750 phanerogamic species, around 70 of which are endemic in the Pyrenees. Under the guidance of the Nature Interpretation Centre or a mountain guide specialising in flora, this spectacle for the senses enables visitors to discover how plants found high in the mountains were traditionally used, how the inhabitants of the higher parts of the Ordino valley area typically lived, how to interpret the landscape, how humankind has influenced nature, etc.