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Cova del Rebost

Cova del Rebost

Petita, però curiosa cova, a l'Alta Garrotxa

Montagut i Oix • Garrotxa6m2m

A small but curious cave in Alta Garrotxa, in the Riu valley, with its entrance walled up by a stone wall and known as cova de les Llonganisses.

Characteristics

Location

In the Riu valley, in Alta Garrotxa, only 75 m SW of collet del Vinardell. To get there, the best approach is to start from Sadernes and follow the path traditionally used by hikers to climb puig de Bassegoda. The track that from Sadernes goes up the Llierca river can save us a few kilometres of walking, but it must be borne in mind that this track is only open during winter, while for the rest of the year traffic is prohibited. The Bassegoda path passes by collet del Vinardell (elevation 691 m). Right here we will leave it to go in a SW direction to find a small south-facing cliff. Once at the cliff, we must look for a precarious ledge that we will follow cautiously for about 20 m until we reach the cavity, very well hidden.

Mapa

Entrances

Always verify coordinates and access conditions before setting out.

  1. Cova del Rebost

    Elevation: 690 m

    42.301446, 2.617837
    UTM 31T (ETRS89) 468500 4683317
Download all entrances as GPX

Photos

Cova del Rebost - Photo, Montagut i Oix, GarrotxaView 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 natural entrance of the cave is almost 4 m wide and a little more than 3 m high. It has all been walled up with a very well built and thick stone wall, leaving an opening like a window of about 60x50 cm and another small opening at the level of the cave floor through which, barely, a thin person could pass. The most curious thing is that, from the outside, the stone wall cannot be seen, only the window, since all the rest has been covered with earth, which, we understand, increases the thermal insulation of the interior of the cave, which remains very cool despite the south orientation. For this reason, the spot goes very unnoticed in the landscape despite the good natural size of the entrance and of the wall that blocks it. Since the wall has been covered on the outside, the window is at the level of the outside ground. The interior is a chamber that is pleasant to be in, with a very flat floor although with some stones. On the walls the limestone strata can be seen dipping 45 degrees to the north. Finally, we observe on the walls and ceiling typical erosion forms that bear witness to an ancient phreatic phase in the origin of the cave. Route of 5.5 m.

Speleothems

In the innermost part a small conduit can be seen that has generated a concretion in the form of a small flowstone.

Hydrology

In the innermost part a small conduit can be seen through which water could trickle.

Progression

To enter the cave, we will have to pass very crouched through the window and make a vertical jump of two metres to fall to the cave floor.

History

Known by local people and some local hikers, but in general little known. Speleologically unpublished, it does not appear in any catalogue, publication or speleological note. Members of the ECMB and the GEB carried out the exploration on 28 January 2025 thanks to the fact that colleagues Albert Sancho and Albert Sala, from Sant Joan les Fonts, accompanied them.

But the cave has history, since it was used by the former inhabitants of mas de Can Vinardell, currently in ruins. For this purpose, they built a stone wall that almost completely blocked its entrance - of good size - leaving only an opening like a window to be able to enter and use the interior as a pantry while taking advantage of the coolness of the cave. For this reason, the cavity is also known by the name cova de les Llonganisses, possibly referring to the fact that they kept these meat products there. The wall is very well built and since the access window hangs a couple of metres above the cave floor, we understand that they would have used a ladder to access it.

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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 17-2-2025. Dades: Ferran Cardona (ECM Barcelonès), Josep Cuenca, Xavier Samarra (GE Badalona) i l'Albert Sancho i l'Albert Sala, de Sant Joan les Fonts.

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