Forat d'Estela

Known since time immemorial and full of legends. The oldest reference we know is that of an anonymous Berguedà hiker who together with another companion from La Prosperitat Bergistana went in September 1885 to visit the hole. He makes a detailed description of the itinerary and they reach the end of the entrance ramp of the cavity, desisting from descending the shaft before them. The whole account is of a very florid literature typical of the era; among many other things he explains the legend of the existence inside of a silver image of Saint John and the account of a shepherd they meet during the excursion who informs them, among other things, of a whole series of caves from around the world is not to be missed.

Everything suggests that Font i Sagué was unaware of this earlier publication and in his Catàleg (1897) he cites the 'Cugulló de Estela' at Espinalvet, as a cave located at the Rasos de Peguera, of which many fantastic deeds are told, and which is deep and of reduced width. He takes this data from the Interrogatori that the Centre Excursionista de Catalunya had made in 1896 at the proposal of its delegate in Granollers, Dionís Puig.

Over the years it appears mentioned in different hiking literature, especially in the guides to the Berguedà. A. Jolis and Mª A. Simó in their work Alt Berguedà i Cardener (CEC,1950) say: 'It is a pit of about thirty metres, in a reduced and cliffy place'.