Caves of Vespella de Gaià

Vespella de Gaià, a municipality in the Tarragonès, has 5 caves, all of them designated with the word Cova. Together they total a length of 41 m and reach a maximum depth of 5 m. The Cova del Manou is the most notable, with 26 m of length and a depth of 5 m; the remaining cavities are much smaller: the Cova a de Vespella (6 m), the Cova de Can Virgili (4 m), the Cova C de Vespella (3 m) and the Cova B de Vespella (2 m).

The lithologies present are sandstones, in 4 of the caves, and limestones, in 1. The Cova del Manou, the largest, has a circular entrance 0.7 m in diameter, a main chamber 12 m long and 2-3 m wide, and a narrow final gallery. Several of the smaller caves are located on the hill of the castle of Vespella: the Cova a de Vespella, known since time immemorial; the Cova B de Vespella, about 3.5 metres wide and 2 metres deep, closed by a wall and reused; the Cova C de Vespella, about 6 metres to the SW of cave B; and the Cova de Can Virgili, with a triangular plan, 11 metres wide and 4 metres deep.