La Vall Ferrera

Located between the Vall de Card, France and Andorra, The Vall Ferrera is one of the three great valleys which make up the region of the Pallars Sobirà, the other two valleys being the Vall d'Àneu and the Vall de Cardós.

These valleys were carved in the Quaternary era, the age of the glaciers. Millions of years later, as the climate grew warmer and these glaciers disappeared, rivers were born where before there was only ice.

The glacier which sculpted the Vall Ferrera originated in the cirques of Baiau, Sotllo and Estats. The Vall Ferrera runs from the relief and culminates in the peak of the Pica d'Estats-the highest point in the Catalan Pyrenees - 3,143 metres above sea level.

Xavier Mateu (Boletín - julio 1985)

Àreu has moved down from the early nucleus of La Força down to the valley which now forms the main part of the village, where the inhabitants could find a more open space for their dwellings, barns and allotments.