River banks are often prime places to set up industries powered by water. However, in La Seu d'Urgell, the Segre and Valira Rivers -whose sources are Culassa corrie (in Alta Cerdanya) and Pessons corrie (in the Encamp parish in Andorra), respectively- have enabled tourist and sports activities to develop.

History

This history dates back to the Greek and Roman heroes. Legend has it that Hercules (the hero of Greco-Roman mythology) was the son of Zeus and Alcmene.

He was the greatest of all the heroes because he had superhuman strength. But because he murdered his own sons in a fit of madness, Zeus assigned him twelve tasks, known as the ‘Labours of Hercules’. He earned fame as a warrior by defeating many enemies, many of them monsters. But he was also considered a great athlete and is thus attributed with founding the Olympics. Hercules was also the founder of several different cities in the western Mediterranean. Specifically, in 1699 BC he founded La Seu d’Urgell, saying that a city was urgently needed there. In other words, the connection between La Seu d’Urgell and sport dates back to the mythical Hercules.

In 1992, more than 36 centuries later, on the occasion of the Barcelona Olympics, Hercules and sport once again converged in La Seu -an Olympic sub-site for white water sports- with the construction of El Segre Park on the riverbanks. Specifically, its Olympic Channel was the setting of the canoe slalom. And so, the building that ended up becoming the current La Valira Youth Hostel was built to house the athletes participating in the Olympics. It was built on a site that the City Hall had given to the Government of Catalonia just one year earlier.

In short, embraced by two rivers, La Seu is one of the sites with the closest ties to adventure sports. And that was only the starting point, because sports tourism in La Seu have only continued to grow. In fact, the Segre River has witnessed many canoeists frolicking in its waterfalls, making it an ideal place for this sport. And many other adventure activities can be done around it, like rafting, river boarding, all-terrain bicycling and Nordic walking. Plus, more international competitions have been held here, like the 1999 world championship and the qualifiers for the 2000 Sydney Olympics. All of this means that tourism in La Seu d’Urgell is alive and well, while the La Valira hostel continues to provide its services for athletes and fans.

Architecture

This building was constructed recently. It is characterised by being highly functional, given that it was created specifically to serve as a hostel. It is fully adapted to the needs of all types of users. Facing Valira Park, it has views of a landscape that is a pleasure for the eyes.