Avenc del Penya-segat de la Falconera

An 80-metre-deep pit in the Garraf, in Sitges, with access from the C-31 road and a large entrance above the cliff.

Sitges • Garraf 105m 80m

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An 80-metre-deep pit in the Garraf, in Sitges, with access from the C-31 road and a large entrance above the cliff.

Sitges · Garraf

Length: 105 m · Depth: 80 m

Updated record

https://espeleoworld.com/en/c/avenc-del-penya-segat-de-la-falconera

Information can change. Always verify coordinates, access, weather, and cave conditions before setting out.

Topographic map of the main entrance — Main entrance · ICGC topographic map

An 80-metre-deep pit in the Garraf, in Sitges, with access from the C-31 road and a large entrance above the cliff.

Characteristics

Type: Pothole
Municipality: Sitges
Region: Garraf
Unit: Garraf, el
Length: 105 meters
Depth: 80 meters
Major Unit: Serralada Litoral
Lithology: Limestone
Updated on EspeleoÍndex: June 11, 2017

Location

On the C-31 road from Castelldefels to Sitges (Costes del Garraf), on a bend at kilometre 171.75, at the heliport of the Pas de la Mala Dona, where there is space to leave vehicles (to enter you must come from the direction of Sitges). We cross the wall of the viewpoint and continue along a path that descends to a col and climbs again passing a small pit protected by a fence. A few metres further on we take a turn-off to the right marked with a stone cairn until we reach the cliff. It can also be accessed from the car park located at port Ginesta.

Entrances

Always verify coordinates and access conditions before setting out.

Avenc del Penya-segat de la Falconera
Elevation: 95 m
41.249476, 1.892909
UTM 31T (ED 50) 407337 4567246
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Topographic

Avenc del Penya-segat de la Falconera - Topography, Sitges, Garraf

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Description

Morphology

25 metres below the highest point of the cliff, we find a platform full of scrub and dwarf palms, where the entrance of a fairly inclined shaft opens, in which we find several ledges, and which after descending 35 metres ends in a large, steeply sloping floor, where after a drop of about 20 metres it meets the cliff again through a large portal 20x30 metres, located 16 metres above sea level.

A good part of the entrance and the first section of the original cavity have been dismantled by erosion, the same process that gave rise to the large opening of the lower portal.

According to Escolà (1965), it would be an ancient sinkhole that drained the waters of a previous epigean relief. Structured on an important fault, visible throughout the cliff, inclined and with a gently undulating plane. On the friction surface large fault mirrors can be seen as well as significant crushing of the nearby materials. The cavity seems to have constituted an isolated complex without a probable relationship with the spring of la Falconera.

Topographic considerations: The two known surveys are almost identical with a single difference, the maximum depth level. Escolà (1965) places it at -80 metres (at the end of the lower ramp before discharging into the sea). Lloret et al. (1973) take it to -99 metres, but they place this level on the seabed.

History

This cavity had never been mentioned in the old catalogues. Faura, in a geological work, accompanies a photo of the coast of la Falconera where the large chasm halfway up the cliff can be seen and which he calls Bauma del Penya-segat de la Falconera. Faura himself, in 1923, in the Memòria explicativa del full nº 39 (Vilanova i la Geltrú) del Servei del Mapa Geològic de Catalunya, publishes two photos taken by Lluís Estasen where the entrance of the pit can be seen from below and the bauma with a person on the final ramp.

It is not until the end of 1964 that Esteve Petit (ERE-CEC) locates the entrance of the pit. With other companions from the group: Raventós, Ferrer, Bergas and Escolà, they explore and survey it on 24 January 1965. It should be noted that during this exploration they found a completely rusted wire ring at the entrance of the cavity and at the bottom, in the section that gives onto the sea, there were some small iron bars driven into the rock. Had someone been down before? Or perhaps they had climbed from the sea? Could they have been some of the mining workers who took part in the works of la Falconera at the end of the 19th century? Could it have been Lluís Estasen (CEC) who climbed from the sea? For the moment the question remains open.

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Bibliography

Borràs, J. (1973).- Catálogo espeleológico del macizo de Garraf. Vol. III . 207 pp. Barcelona.
Escolà, O. (1965).- “El 'avenc' i la 'bauma' del 'Penya-segat' de la Falconera”. Montaña (101): 27-31. Centre Excursionista de Catalunya. Barcelona.
Faura i Sans, M. (1923).- Servei del Mapa Geològic de Catalunya. Explicació de la fulla nº 39 (Vilanova i la Geltrú). Junta de Ciències Natural de Barcelona. Mancomunitat de Catalunya.
Ferrer, V. (2006).- Avencs de Garraf i d’Ordal. 152 pp. + llibret fitxes i topografies. Edició de l’autor. Barcelona.