Balma de la Font Tosca

South-facing rock shelter, formerly used as a vegetable garden, in Santa Maria de Besora, with a retaining wall and a spring that pools. The nearby Font Tosca gives the shelter its name.

Santa Maria de Besora • Osona 9m

EspeleoWorld

South-facing rock shelter, formerly used as a vegetable garden, in Santa Maria de Besora, with a retaining wall and a spring that pools. The nearby Font Tosca gives the shelter its name.

Santa Maria de Besora · Osona

Length: 9 m

Updated record

https://espeleoworld.com/en/c/balma-de-la-font-tosca

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

South-facing rock shelter, formerly used as a vegetable garden, in Santa Maria de Besora, with a retaining wall and a spring that pools. The nearby Font Tosca gives the shelter its name.

Characteristics

Type: Cave
Municipality: Santa Maria de Besora
Region: Osona
Unit: Serra de Milany - Vidranès
Length: 9 meters
Depth: 0 meters
Major Unit: Prepirineu
Lithology: Sandstone
Updated on EspeleoÍndex: June 19, 2021

Location

From the village of Santa Maria de Besora we will take the paved track towards Llaés, which we will leave at 2 km to take a track on the right that leads to the Ferrers farmhouse. The track continues now in a steep climb, making several hairpin bends. On reaching a small col we will have to leave it to take a path that branches off to the right and heads east. We will leave behind the Balmes dels Ferrers, which are at a certain height on our left, and about 150 m further on we will already sense the existence of the balma de la Font Tosca, also at a certain height on our left. Continuing along the path, in a few metres we will reach a torrent, where we will find the font Tosca.

Entrances

Always verify coordinates and access conditions before setting out.

Balma de la Font Tosca
Elevation: 1065 m
42.140472, 2.269636
UTM 31T (ETRS89) 439646 4665631
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Topographic

Balma de la Font Tosca - Topography, Santa Maria de Besora, Osona

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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

South-facing rock shelter with a width of 37 m and a maximum depth of 9 m. The floor is very flat thanks to the construction of a retaining wall with thick stones in order to maximise the usable surface. The wall occupies almost the entire width of the shelter and tends to close off at both ends.

Hydrology

From the back of the shelter springs a spring whose water soon pools, but which in other times would have irrigated the garden. The font Tosca: A few metres beyond the eastern end of the shelter, a torrent plunges down the cliff where it is located, forming a beautiful waterfall covered in travertine. At its lower part, from the travertine itself, springs a relatively abundant spring, the font Tosca, which gives the shelter its name.

History

Like its neighbouring and better-known Balmes dels Ferrers, this shelter was used by humans in not very distant times, but unlike them it was not to build a dwelling, but to have the garden. At least this is what follows from the retaining wall made with thick stones in order to achieve an important flat cultivation surface. If to this we add the existence of a spring inside the shelter itself that provides water for the garden, as well as the south orientation of the shelter which means the sun reaches far inside, we find ourselves in a very suitable spot for the inhabitants of the Balmes dels Ferrers to be able to grow their vegetables.

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Bibliography

Totes les dades, topografia i fotografies han estat extretes del web: geb.cat (del Grup d'Espeleologia de Badalona). Apunt del 22-2-2021. Dades: Ferran Cardona (ECMB), Josep Cuenca i Xavier Samarra (GEB).