Skip to main content
Cova del Racó de l'hospital

Cova del Racó de l'hospital

A 115-metre-long cave near Montblanc, formed by two galleries at different levels, with access via a -3.6-metre shaft and another of 5.2 metres.

Montblanc • Conca de Barberà 115m 9m

A 115-metre-long cave near Montblanc, formed by two galleries at different levels, with access via a -3.6-metre shaft and another of 5.2 metres.

Characteristics

Location

Located at the end of Carrer de Josep M. Tosas in Montblanc, we continue along the camí de la pasquala; at the end of this we find a water tank that we skirt on the left. A little further on, after passing some tanks located on the left of the path, it makes a bend and heads towards the S; we continue uphill until reaching a crossroads, where we leave the track that goes off to the left and continue straight on, entering an open area of the forest where we find a square-shaped water tank. From the West side of the esplanade, we follow the right-hand track, which is closed by a padlock; after about 800 metres, at the point where the track curves to the right, on the left-hand side of the track we find a dry-stone wall. From the right-hand side of the track a path branches off which, in a little more than a hundred metres, brings us to the cave.

Map

Entrances

Always verify coordinates and access conditions before setting out.

  1. Cova del Racó de L'hospital

    Elevation: 604 m

    41.361280, 1.144903
    UTM 31T (ETRS89) 344835 4580524
Download all entrances as GPX

Photos

Cova del Racó de l'hospital - Photo, Montblanc, 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 10

Description

Morphology

The cave is formed by two galleries at different levels, the upper of which connects the cavity with the outside at different points, presenting a development of about 40 metres amidst a chaos of blocks and in a general direction approximately N-S, forming two chambers at its ends joined by a gallery.

The lower galleries have an average width of one metre and present a winding route following the direction of the joint along which it runs, its height oscillating between 4 and 9 metres.

Progression

The lower gallery is accessed from the right-hand side of the main entrance, where we find a parabold (M-10, without nut) and opposite it a spit.

Access by means of a -3.6-metre shaft, followed by another of 5.2 metres, opened at the S end of the lower galleries.

History

In February 1966 the explorations began by the then very young members of the GIEM (Montblanc), who already knew that the cave had already been explored by the first speleology group of Montblanc, the SERS of the CEM, some years earlier.

All the work in the cavity has been carried out at different times by the members of the GIEM.

After several attempts, in 1971 they finally made a survey of the plan of the lower gallery; this was published in volume no. 2 of the Catàleg espeleològic de Catalunya (1978), which also includes the plan of the upper gallery, entirely invented. Finally, in 2012 they made a new complete survey of the cavity.

Bio

Coleoptera:

  • Troglocharinus orcinus (very widespread in the muntanyes de Prades)

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. 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.
  2. GIEM (1972).-”Cavidades topografiadas en la Serra de Prades y lista de las mayores cavidades” Comuni. II Simp. Metod. Espel. VI/1-12. Escuela Catalana de Espeleología-CRE.
  3. Pallisé, J. (2017).- “En el record encara: Les primeres exploracions i descobertes del GIEM (La Ginesta i el Racó de l'Hospital)”. (en preparació per a la revista Podall del Centre d'Estudis de la Conca de Barberà)
  • Actualització de la fitxa gener de 2018. Coordenades, situació, dades i fotografies, facilitades per Juli Serrano (SIE-CEA) i Francesc Rubinat (ERE-CEC).

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