Skip to main content
Cova del Mas de la Llana

Cova del Mas de la Llana

A 105 m-long cave in Vallclara (Conca de Barberà), an ancient spring with ascending galleries, lithogenic formations and a refuge during the Civil War.

Vallclara • Conca de Barberà 105m 17m

A 105 m-long cave in Vallclara (Conca de Barberà), an ancient spring with ascending galleries, lithogenic formations and a refuge during the Civil War.

Characteristics

Location

The cavity is located a few metres above km 3.2 of the forest track that runs from the TV-7003 road (near Riudabella, coming from Vimbodí) to the village of Vallclara, very close to the Mas de la Llana and to a valley floor where the spring has been located. A few metres from the mas, a ridge of limestone conglomerates stands out, showing a pronounced dip and rising towards the SW.

Map

Entrances

Always verify coordinates and access conditions before setting out.

  1. Cova del Mas de la Llana

    Elevation: 728 m

    41.361530, 1.002590
    UTM 31T (ED 50) 333026 4581020
Download all entrances as GPX

Photos

Cova del Mas de la Llana - Photo, Vallclara, Conca de BarberàView image
Click to enlarge

Espeleoindex · CC BY-NC 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ · Image © its author.

Image 1 of 5

Description

Morphology

The entrance mouth and passage have a perfect elliptical shape, although it is so narrow that we are forced to enter by crawling a couple of metres until reaching the small chamber that was known and that apparently served as a refuge for a few days for some people during the Civil War. In the same SW direction as the surface materials, there is a narrow crawlway that, after being cleared, gives access to a straight gallery about 100 metres long that only presents a pronounced bend towards the middle, just at the point where the cavity reaches its most developed dimensions with an oval section of 2.2 x 3 metres. The whole cavity follows an ascending route until reaching the elevation + 14.3 from the entrance mouth. At some points, amid very smoothed walls, we see some pebbles of material harder than the parent conglomerate that protrude like a mushroom.

Speleothems

In several places on the ceiling there are beautiful lithogenic formations with stalactites and stalagmites in good condition, since the cavity is little known and not very easy to visit.

Hydrology

The cavity acted as an important spring with a remarkable water circulation, with very rounded sections and some places with a ceiling very smoothed by water circulation, although it presents the peculiarity that the main passage was filled in by sediments and by layers of concretion, and was re-excavated several times, to the point of having a stretch with two levels connected by a narrow channel. Finally, the cavity was abandoned by water circulation, probably due to the formation of the exterior torrents.

Progression

The entrance mouth and passage are so narrow that it is necessary to enter by crawling a couple of metres until reaching the small chamber. A narrow crawlway, after being cleared, gives access to the straight gallery.

Other details

Perhaps one of the most interesting geological aspects to observe is outside, since if we continue the track towards Vallclara and position ourselves upstream of the first torrent, we will find two small cavities (Cova del Mas de la Llana 2 and 3) with the same morphology, direction and slope as the main cavity, on both sides of the ravine, which indicates an origin of the cavity prior to the formation and excavation of the ravine that sectioned the galleries, and something similar happens in the next ravine (cave 3). An interesting aspect consists in elucidating the origin and the catchment area of the waters that circulated through the cavity.

History

A resident of Vallclara, Joan Ramon Roig, mentioned to members of GIEM – CE Montblanc the existence of this cavity that had served as a hiding place during the Civil War. On 1 February 1997 the first visit was carried out and seven days later the sediment plug of the first crawlway was cleared. In the following weeks the whole cavity was finished being explored and surveyed.

User Comments (0)

No comments yet.

Be the first to share your experience!

Registered Explorations (0)

No explorations registered yet.

Register your visit to this cave!

Bibliography

  1. Palau, Ramon i Pallisé, Joan (2006).- “Ressenya de quatre fenòmens càrstics a la zona limítrofa del PNIN de Poblet”. Actes de les Segones Jornades sobre el Bosc de Poblet i les Muntanyes de Prades. Departament de Medi Ambient. Generalitat de Catalunya.

· Informació facilitada per Ramon Sendra i Joan Pallisé (GIEM – CE Montblanc)

· Fotografies extretes del blog Espeleobloc ( post del 6 d'abril de 2008).

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