Andorra La Vella - City of Andorra

Andorra la Vella is the capital of the Co-principality of Andorra, and is located high in the east Pyrenees between France and Spain. It is also the name of the parish that surrounds it. The town of Santa Coloma is located in the province.

The principal industry is tourism, although the country also earns foreign income from being a tax-haven. Furniture and brandies are local products.

Andorra la Vella is located in the south west of Andorra, at 42°30N 1°30E / 42.5, 1.5, at the confluence of two mountain streams. Located at an altitude of 1,409 metres (4,620 ft), it is a high capital and popular ski resort. Its climate is Temperate with cold winters and warm, drier summers.

Surprisingly for a capital city, it is three hours drive from the nearest airports, at Toulouse, Girona, Perpignan and Barcelona.

The site of Andorra la Vella (literally, "Andorra the Old") has been settled since prior to the Christian era - notably by the Andosin tribe from the late Neolithic. The state is one of the Marca Hispanica created and protected by Charlemagne in the eighth century as a buffer from the Moorish settlers in the Iberian Peninsula.

During this period, Andorra also developed as a tax haven, resulting in the construction of modern banking offices in Andorra La Vella. The city also developed its skiing facilities, to the extent that Andorra la Vella was Andorra's applicant city for the XXI Olympic Winter Games, the 2010 Winter Olympics. However, Andorra la Vella was not selected by the IOC as a candidate city, following the evaluation report of an IOC commission. It also hosted both the 1991 and 2005 Games of the Small States of Europe.

The city's old town is characterized by old stone streets and houses. The central Església de Sant Esteve (Saint Stephen) church is part of the area that guidebooks often label as a picturesque part of the city. This was built in a Romanesque style in the eleventh century. As mentioned earlier, the old town also includes the country's historic parliament building. Probably the oldest building in the city is another church, dating from the ninth century, of Santa Coloma.

The city is the country's cultural centre, with the Government Exhibition Hall acting as a main theatre and museum. The piazza outside the parliament building is also the location of a number of events, and the town hosts a music festival every winter.

Andorra la Vella is twinned towns with:

Valls, Spain