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Cova dels Lladres

Cova dels Lladres

Àmplia cova de 32 m de recorregut a la Serra de Sant Amand (Ripollès)

Ribes de Freser • Ripollès32m0

A 32 m long cave in the Serra de Sant Amand, in the Ripollès, with a large 10 x 10 m entrance and a 22 m chamber.

Characteristics

Location

On the western foothills of the Serra de Sant Amand, specifically in the place known as the canals de Sant Eloi. Less than one kilometre north of Saltor.

To get there, one can set out from Bruguera, a village belonging to the municipality of Ribes de Freser. From the Serrat Roig neighbourhood we will take the signposted path towards Saltor. The path goes around the Serra de Sant Amand on the west side until it places us at the collet de Saltor (elevation 1394 m). From here, the path becomes complicated; we will follow a very faintly worn little trail heading north, and we must stay attentive so as not to lose the track. The little trail climbs steeply until reaching a first collet and from there continues to a second collet where the pla de Palanques is found (elevation 1555 m). The cavity is about 300 m NNW of the pla in a straight line, but this last stretch we will have to do through the middle of a sloping forest that is hard to traverse, with no path and no landmarks. We will find the cavity in one of the canals de Sant Eloi, behind a rocky spur.

Mapa

Entrances

Always verify coordinates and access conditions before setting out.

  1. Cova dels Lladres

    Elevation: 1574 m

    42.262844, 2.193464
    UTM 31T (ETRS89) 433480 4679275
Download all entrances as GPX

Photos

Cova dels Lladres - Photo, Ribes de Freser, RipollèsView image
Click to enlarge

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

Image 1 of 4

Description

Morphology

The cave entrance is very large, 10 x 10 m. It gives way to a chamber 22 m long, perfectly lit given the dimensions of the entrance. The left wall is very straight since it coincides with a bedding plane that in this spot is completely vertical. The right wall is what causes the width of the chamber to narrow progressively. From the initial 10 metres it goes first to 7 m and then to 3.5 m. The height of the chamber remains a good size. The floor of the chamber is very flat except for the places where blocks have accumulated. A very habitable cavity. Just at the entrance of the cave there is a pile formed by the stones and earth that have come down from above through the canal.

At the back of the chamber a gallery 5 m long begins, into which one must enter crouched. Hanging on the wall at the back of the chamber we find other galleries of scant length.

History

It has been marked for years on the map “Taga – Serra Cavallera” by Editorial Alpina. This single reference stirred the curiosity of Ferran Cardona (ECM Barcelonès), who in early August 2022 was able to locate it and carry out the cataloguing work.

The reason for its name is unknown, but as it is a very hidden cave, difficult to reach and very habitable, it seems evident that at some distant time it served as a hiding place.

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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 29-8-2022. Dades: Ferran Cardona (ECM Barcelonès)


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