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Avenc de Carles V

Avenc de Carles V

Modest però interessant avenc de 14 m. de fondària al Montmell.

Montmell, El • Baix Penedès35m14m

Avenc de Carles V, a modest but interesting pit 14 m deep in the Montmell, in the serra de l'Arca.

Characteristics

Location

In the serra de l'Arca (Montmell). The best route is to take the road from la Juncosa to Aiguaviva until reaching, after some final hectometres on a steep slope, the coll de l'Arca, where we leave the cars. From the same coll a forest track (closed) heads off towards the S., which in a flat and comfortable way brings us close to the puig de la Cova (673 m). When we are practically in front of it, the track makes a pronounced bend to get around a small hill (which can be short-circuited along the firebreak) and from the right another firebreak track comes out, which climbs on a steep slope from near the mas Campanera. After a few metres the track ends, but shortly before, below it, a small col can be seen that separates the source of two ravines; it must be crossed by a path that immediately climbs to the left towards the next ridge. From it a good part of the Penedès depression can be seen and sunk at our feet runs a ravine (Fondo del Sabater) that heads towards the masies de Santsuies. From the ridge we must descend some twenty or twenty-five metres, without a path and slightly to the right, heading for some rocks where the mouth of the avenc de Carles V is found.

Mapa

Entrances

Always verify coordinates and access conditions before setting out.

  1. Carles V, Avenc de

    Elevation: 590 m

    41.321170, 1.484080
    UTM 31T (ED 50) 373222 4575724
Download all entrances as GPX

Photos

Avenc de Carles V - Photo, Montmell, El, Baix PenedèsView image
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Espeleoindex · CC BY-NC 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ · Image © its author.

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Description

Morphology

The Avenc de Carles V is a very simple cavity, which originates with a pit of little more than 12 metres of drop, with the walls lined with stalactitic flowstone and which leaves us on top of a cone of debris on a base about 3 metres wide. The cavity continues through a narrow and tall gallery that heads towards the SO and is broken up by large stalagmitic masses that climb almost up to the ceiling. After about 20 metres of passage it ends in a small chamber, a little raised above the starting point.

Speleothems

The walls of the pit are lined with stalactitic flowstone. The narrow and tall gallery is broken up by large stalagmitic masses that climb almost up to the ceiling.

History

The first speleological exploration took place on 14 August 1933 by a group from the Centre Excursionista de Catalunya commanded by Lluís Porta i Massana and guided by the masover of can Saumell. In his account, Porta himself comments on some events related by one of his companions, who explains that around the years 1830-50 a group of bandits led by Pau Mañer de la Bisbal del Penedès organised kidnappings of wealthy people from the region and lowered them with a rope to the bottom of the pit that they used as a dungeon, forcing them to write to their families to obtain the ransom. It seems that these actions did not always end well and it is told that on some occasion, one of the kidnapped people had managed to escape but, on being discovered by the guards, they had thrown him down the pit. This Pau Mañer appears as one of the leaders of the Carlist groups that operated in the Penedès region during the Guerra dels Matiners, followers of the Carlist pretender to the crown Carles V and from this the name of the cavity is derived. We intuit that the later name of Cal Rosquin is a popular metathesis to disguise or forget the Carlist references.

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Bibliography

  1. Borràs, J.; Miñarro,JM.; Talavera, F. (1978).- Catàleg Espeleològic de Catalunya. Vol. 2 (l'Alt Camp, la Conca de Barberà,el Baix Penedès i el Tarragonès):246 pp. Ed. Poliglota. Barcelona.
  1. Porta, L. (1934).- “Recerques espeleològiques per Montmell – L'avenc de Carles V” Butll. Centre Excursionista de Catalunya (466): 102-106.

Source: Espeleoindex (espeleoindex.com), modified. CC BY-NC 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/