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Cova Inferior de la Vansa

Cova Inferior de la Vansa

A worked rock shelter 18 metres long and 8 metres deep in the barranc de Fontfreda (Vilanova de Meià), divided into two rooms and with a one-metre drop.

Vilanova de Meià • Noguera 8m 1m

A worked rock shelter 18 metres long and 8 metres deep in the barranc de Fontfreda (Vilanova de Meià), divided into two rooms and with a one-metre drop.

Characteristics

Location

Located at Tòrrec, belonging to the municipality of Vilanova de Meià, at the point where the weighbridge is, just opposite a track comes out; we will soon find a turn-off, and we must keep to the left. After a little more than half a kilometre, the track makes a series of bends and descends to the barranc de les Planes; the track continues parallel to the ravine, going up it. Just after crossing it, we will follow a path on the left that follows the ravine along the other bank, but now in the same direction as the water flows. We go round a rocky spur where some water pipes are visible and descend towards the barranc de Fontfreda following the path on the left; from this point the balma de la Vansa can already be seen. We cross the ravine and follow the path that at first seems to head towards the barranc de la Tartera; the path gains height and enters the barranc de Fontfreda on the left (hydrographic right). Shortly before arriving we find a small cave belonging to the semi-troglodytic chapel complex of Santa Maria. About fifty metres further on a path on the left climbs up towards the cova de la Vansa; one must follow along the base of the cliff until reaching the lower rock shelter, situated almost directly below a stone portal perpendicular to the cliff, of the cova de la Vansa.

Map

Entrances

Always verify coordinates and access conditions before setting out.

  1. Vansa, Cova Inferior de la

    Elevation: 517 m

    41.992361, 1.075560
    UTM 31T (ED 50) 340694 4650923
Download all entrances as GPX

Photos

Cova Inferior de la Vansa - Photo, Vilanova de Meià, NogueraView image
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Espeleoindex · CC BY-NC 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ · Image © its author.

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Description

Morphology

It is a rock shelter 18 metres wide by 8 metres deep, divided into two rooms and with a one-metre drop between the two. The whole front is closed by a wall with a door, and it is used sporadically by flocks of sheep. This rock shelter, architecturally and as a dwelling, forms part of the cova de la Vansa complex, but morphologically it is structured in a stratum located at a lower level than that of the cova de la Vansa.

Hydrology

The word "bansa" or "vansa" is a hydronym (a place name related to water). It comes from the Basque and Franco-Provençal word "laban", which means soft, slippery, like the river that rises at the Font Freda and descends through the barranc de Fontfreda.

History

There is evidence of the place name from the beginning of 1010, as it appears as a boundary of the endowment that Count Ermengol II of Urgell made to the church of Montmagastre. Later it formed part of the Baronia de Lavansa and in 1926 it was annexed to the municipality of Vilanova de Meià. It was inhabited permanently until the year 1932 by the Puigpinós family. It served as a hiding place during the civil war; later Solé, nicknamed "el Grives", lived there; from 1941 until 1950 it was inhabited by Ventura Puigpinós, born in the house at the beginning of the 20th century; afterwards it remained abandoned. On 29 October 1967 it was visited by several members of the SAS-CGB and of the ERE of the CEC. At present the place is much frequented by climbers.

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Bibliography

  1. Cortés i Ribelles, Manuel.(1984).- El Montsec i Muntanyes Veïnes. Centre Excursionista de Lleida.
  2. Escolà i Boada, Oleguer (1970).- “Catálogo Espeleológico del Montsec”. Espeleòleg (11-12):453-541. ERE del CEC. Barcelona.
  3. Reig,Joan; Aymamí,Gener; Peidró,Eliseo.(1998).-”Baronia de Lavansa: Romànic i trogloditisme amb incògnites”. Excursionisme (270):230-236. UEC. Barcelona.
  4. Vega, Josep de la. (1981).-”Aplec de documents arqueològics de les coves del Montsec i llur projecció a les comarques i serres properes”. Mediterrània (12): 1-359.

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