Caves of the Alt Penedès
Alt Penedès contains 197 cavities: 129 caves and 68 pits, with 6,995 m of surveyed passage and a maximum depth of 291 m. Avenc de l'Esquerrà, in the Garraf massif, is the most important and complex cavity.
The Alt Penedès region has 197 catalogued caves, including 68 potholes and 129 caves. The longest is Avenc de l'Esquerrà (2,050m). Most caves are found in limestone.
Length adds each cave once (a system counts once), and depth is that of the deepest cave, canyons excluded.
Read more
Alt Penedès contains 197 recorded cavities: 129 caves and 68 pits, with a total surveyed passage of 6,995 m and a maximum depth of 291 m. The dominant lithology is limestone (182 cavities), accompanied by conglomerate (6), dolomite (5), sandstone (2), marl (1) and travertine (1).
The most important and complex cavity is Avenc de l'Esquerrà, in the Garraf massif, with 291.4 m of depth and three routes: Via Normal – Anna Maria Pallejà, Via Rat-penat and Via Lamarca-Torras. Other cavities notable for their passage are Coves de Santa Anna, with 310 m at the foot of the Serra de les Clivelleres, in Mediona, and Avenc de Sant Marçal, with 121 m of depth in Olesa de Bonesvalls, located by the E.I.E.-PCB in 1970 and explored in 1971.
Among the deepest cavities there are also Avenc Font I Sagué, 104 m deep in Olesa de Bonesvalls (Ordal), and Avenc d'en Gori, about 60 m deep in the Fondo de Matabous, Olesa de Bonesvalls, explored in 1966 and extended towards -60 m by the SES del GER around 2010.
Map
Municipalities
The figures of these places do not add up to the total: a cave can be in more than one place, or in none when its location has no lower level.
The 20 longest
- 1Avenc de l'EsquerràOlesa de Bonesvalls, Barcelona2,050 m
- 2Coves de Santa AnnaMediona, Barcelona310 m
- 3Avenc de Sant MarçalOlesa de Bonesvalls, Barcelona260 m
- 4Esquerdes de les Roques GransPontons, Barcelona241 m
- 5Cova del BoletMediona, Barcelona225 m
- 6Grutes de les DeusSant Quintí de Mediona, Barcelona223 m
- 7Avenc Font I SaguéOlesa de Bonesvalls, Barcelona210 m
- 8Avenc dels TopògrafsOlesa de Bonesvalls, Barcelona131 m
- 9Cova de Cal Magí RossellTorrelles de Foix, Barcelona102 m
- 10Avenc d'en GoriOlesa de Bonesvalls, Barcelona80 m
- 11Avenc Nº1 de Can VerdeguerMediona, Barcelona80 m
- 12Cova de la JetaMediona, Barcelona62 m
- 13Cova MiserachsSubirats, Barcelona60 m
- 14les Flandes dels CasotsSubirats, Barcelona58 m
- 15Esquerda del Torrent de Sant MiquelGelida, Barcelona57 m
- 16Cova de l'OrCastellet i la Gornal, Barcelona56 m
- 17Avenc d'en ParrillaOlesa de Bonesvalls, Barcelona55 m
- 18Cova FredaTorrelles de Foix, Barcelona54 m
- 19Avenc Josep CuadrenchTorrelles de Foix, Barcelona52 m
- 20Esquerda Nº1 de les Roques del PanyTorrelles de Foix, Barcelona52 m
The 20 deepest
- 1Avenc de l'EsquerràOlesa de Bonesvalls, Barcelona291 m
- 2Avenc de Sant MarçalOlesa de Bonesvalls, Barcelona121 m
- 3Avenc Font I SaguéOlesa de Bonesvalls, Barcelona104 m
- 4Avenc d'en GoriOlesa de Bonesvalls, Barcelona60 m
- 5Avenc dels TopògrafsOlesa de Bonesvalls, Barcelona45 m
- 6Avenc d'en ParrillaOlesa de Bonesvalls, Barcelona45 m
- 7Avenc del Pont de l'escalatOlesa de Bonesvalls, Barcelona38 m
- 8Avenc de Coll EstretOlesa de Bonesvalls, Barcelona32 m
- 9Avenc d'EstelesSubirats, Barcelona31 m
- 10Cova de Cal Magí RossellTorrelles de Foix, Barcelona30 m
- 11Avenc de la CunetaOlesa de Bonesvalls, Barcelona29 m
- 12Avenc d'en GarrigalOlesa de Bonesvalls, Barcelona26 m
- 13Avenc Josep CuadrenchTorrelles de Foix, Barcelona25 m
- 14Cova del CastellotCastellví de la Marca, Barcelona23 m
- 15Coves de Santa AnnaMediona, Barcelona23 m
- 16Avenc Nº1 de Can VerdeguerMediona, Barcelona22 m
- 17Avenc de la UlleraOlesa de Bonesvalls, Barcelona19 m
- 18Esquerda del Torrent de Sant MiquelGelida, Barcelona19 m
- 19Avenc de la BardissaSubirats, Barcelona18 m
- 20Avenc de l'IvanGelida, Barcelona18 m
Source: Espeleoindex (espeleoindex.com), modified. CC BY-NC 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/