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Cova dels Ermitons

Cova dels Ermitons

A 63-metre-long cave in Sales de Llierca, with an ascending gallery of +18 metres and an archaeological site of the Alta Garrotxa, closed by a grille.

Sales de Llierca • Garrotxa 63m 18m

A 63-metre-long cave in Sales de Llierca, with an ascending gallery of +18 metres and an archaeological site of the Alta Garrotxa, closed by a grille.

Characteristics

Location

From Montagut we will head towards Sadernes along the GIV-5231 road. At Sadernes we will pass by the chapel of Santa Cecília and follow the track that climbs parallel to the riera de Sant Aniol, we will pass the Pas del Duc and reach a vehicle parking area; a little further on we will reach the Pont dels Aures, but we will not cross it, we will follow the path that leaves to the right where there is a sign for the cave hanging from a tree. The path ascends passing by the font del Merlot, the path continues climbing through a wooded area; a little further on the path levels out through a pine wood in the direction of the torrent. The path continues climbing until suddenly we find a brief descent where the path turns and crosses a small gully. On the other side of the path we cross some stones following some red paint marks; further on we reach a junction: if we followed the left we would immediately reach the cova del Bisbe, so we must follow the right, where the path climbs steeply and some rocky section marked with red marks must be overcome; on reaching the top of the mountain we will find some cairns that mark a path to the right, we will go down towards the left until we reach a rock wall situated on our right, along which we will continue descending until we are just above the cave, although we will not see it; we must carefully descend a few metres among the rocks along a somewhat exposed section to reach the cave. Approximate coordinates.

Map

Entrances

Always verify coordinates and access conditions before setting out.

  1. Cova dels Ermitons

    Elevation: 415 m

    42.282772, 2.591715
    UTM 31T (ETRS89) 466336 4681253
Download all entrances as GPX

Photos

Cova dels Ermitons - Photo, Sales de Llierca, GarrotxaView image
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Espeleoindex · CC BY-NC 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ · Image © its author.

Image 1 of 7

Description

Morphology

It consists of a single gallery 63 metres long in an ascending direction that reaches +18 metres. The first section is more spacious, in it are found the archaeological excavations, the gallery reaching 8 metres in height; at the moment when the gallery becomes narrower, it begins to climb, while the height of the ceiling decreases until we have to crouch down to continue advancing.

There is considerable discrepancy regarding the dimensions of the cavity: N. Llopis in a survey supposedly from the 1930s gives it 77 metres of length with a height difference of +11 metres; in 1971 in a new survey the GEB gives it a length of 56 metres; the 1973 edition of the Garrotxa hiking map by ed. Alpina gives it 28 metres; while Muñoz & Pericot in 1975 describe it with a length of 50-60 metres. In 1982 Julià Maroto gives it 70 metres, but uses Llopis's survey. The most current survey that we know of is the one published in 1993 by Julià Maroto, with a length of 63 metres and a positive height difference of +18 metres. In the absence of new data, these most updated measurements are the ones we use to catalogue the cavity.

Other details

It is one of the most important archaeological sites of the Alta Garrotxa. Currently the cave is closed by a grille that prevents passage, in order to protect the archaeological site.

History

The first exploration of which we have news seems to have been carried out by Dr. Joaquim Danés, of Olot, who carried out a small excavation in July 1934. Later, we do not know the exact date, but before the first half of the last century, it was visited by N. Llopis Lladó (GES-CMB), who made the first survey of the cavity. Over time the cavity has been the object of archaeological excavations; the last of which we have news were carried out in 2011.

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Bibliography

  1. Borràs,J;Miñarro,JM;Talavera,F.(1980).-”el Ripollès, la Garrotxa i l'Alt Empordà”. Catàleg Espeleològic de Catalunya (vol.4):216-217. ed. Políglota. Barcelona.
  2. Maroto Genover, Julià.(1982).-”Estat actual de les recerques sobre la cova dels Ermitons (Sales de Llierca, Garrotxa)”. Annals de l'Institut d'Estudis Gironins (26):3-22. Girona.
  3. Maroto Genover, Julià.(1993).-”La cueva de los Ermitons (Sales de Llierca, Girona):un yacimiento del Paleolítico Medio final”. Espacio, Tiempo y Forma. Serie I, Prehistótia y arqueología (nº 6):13-30.
  4. Maroto Genover, J.; Ortega Cobos, D., (2002).- Memòria de les intervencions arqueològiques a la Cova dels Ermitons, Mem.núm. 5017Memòries i informes
  5. Maroto, J.; Allué, E.; Julià, R.; Ortega,D.; Rivals, F.; Solés, A. (2003-2005): Memòria d'excavació campanyes 2003-2005 Cova dels Ermitons (Sales de LLierca). Nº 8375 Memòries i informes
  6. Maroto, J. (2010-2011): Memòria d'excavació a la Cova dels Ermitons (Sales de Llierca, la Garrotxa). Mem. núm. 11300
  7. Valles, Jordi de(2009).-”Berguedà, Cerdanya, Garrotxa, Ripollès”. Catàleg Espeleològic de Catalunya (vol.3):241-242. EC Gràcia / FCE.
  • Coordenades i foto exterior extreta de DCM13 wikiloc.com
  • Fotos extretes de Lacoromina (Wikiloc.com) post del 19-01-2017
  • Foto interior extreta de www.novasenda.com

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