Not even a
year ago, I´ve moved to live in Andorra. I must say that so far this has been
the biggest change I have ever done in my life – and I don´t regret it at all.
The reason
for coming here was and still is - my
Churry! :) How we met and how our love story has begun,
I will tell you some other time. Today I
wanted to tell you more about the country I live in.
Andorra is
small country, situated in the middle of mountains – in the middle of
Pyrenees massif. If you look for Andorra
on Google Earth or any other map, you will realize that it is situated in
between two bigger European countries – Spain and France, which trough history
and time have influenced and shaped a lot now-a-days history and culture of
Andorran people.
As far as I
know, Andorra was small piece of land which nobody wanted to conquer, neither
French nor Spanish people, so with time people who have lived here since who
knows when, have decided to create their
own country and nationality – and they did it well.
One of the
most interesting facts which dates since 11th century is that
Andorran constitution has been regulated by Charles the Great (Charlemagne) and
bishop from La Seu d´Urgell. Back in time, being as small as Andorra and with time pretty
desirable piece of land - Andorra needed support and protection from other
surrounding countries, so somewhere in the middle of 11th century
bishop from La Seu and Lord of Caboet made a pack to protect territory of
Andorran valleys. In order to protect
its own territory daughter of Arnau of Caboet married the
Viscount of Castellbò and both became Viscounts of Castellbò and Cerdanya. Some
years later, their daughter - Ermessenda
got married to Roger Bernat II, the
French Count of Foix. They became Roger Bernat II and Ermessenda I, Counts of
Foix, Viscounts of Castellbò and Cerdanya, and also co-founders of Andorra,
together with the Bishop of Urgell.
As the
centuries were passing by and the kingdoms were changing, Andorra has always
been in between these two very powerful countries influenced by their
economical and political changes – and even though isolated and not present as
one of the main actors on big scene of European history, Andorra has created remarkable historical and
cultural background.
In 1934 Boris
Skossyreff, an adventurer tried to declare himself “Boris I, King of Andorra”. Fortunately, this incident was stopped by
Spanish authorities.
Since 1993
Andorra has been a member of United Nations and the Council of Europe.
Now-a-days
we are talking about modern country, with developed tourism (especially ski
resorts), banking systems, cosmetic and tobacco industry, enormous and
beautiful nature resorts, wonderful mix of Catalan-French cuisine and many
other things which I will be discovering for you, with time. :)
So, if having any doubts where to spend your next
holidays, far away from everyday things in the middle of nature, surrounded by all
modern facilities – I think that Andorra is just the place for you. :)
Till next time,
have a very nice day. :)
Adéu!
T.
