The Coasts of Batlles in Riells del Fai

The Costas de en Batlles are the coasts of the Cingles de Bertí in the Llobregat torrent valley, in the municipality of Bigues i Riells, in the Vallès Oriental, in the lands of the town of Riells del Fai.

They are the lower part of the cliff, next to the Cingles de Bertí, just north of the town of Riells del Fai and northwest of Valle Blanca and Vallderrós. They receive this name for the fact that they belonged to the Can Batlles farmhouse. Formerly they were all cultivated on narrow terraces that contained a few rows of vines. The phylloxera ruined these vineyards and currently remain abandoned, although the terraces separated by stone margins are visible from afar.

Then we bring you the most outstanding elements found on the route.

Pinar Fountain

Next to the Tenes is the Banana (Platanus hispanica) of the Fuente del Pinar, which is a tree of great dimensions located in front of the source that gives it its name, specifically in the middle of the Pineda road (which goes to San Miquel del Fai ), where at the height of this tree the path forks in two and the banana is in the middle of the path within a stone test. It has a perimeter of 4.72 meters, a DBH of 1.51 meters and is declared a Monument by the Department of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries within Decree 214/1987 of monumental trees. The Fuente del Pinar consists of a metal pipe.

Gorg de Jeroni

Along the Sant Miquel valley, the Tenes forms a series of pools, some of them more easily accessible than others. When the Tenes begins to leave behind the Cingles de Bertí, approximately at the height of the Madella, there is the Jeroni pool, possibly one of the most beautiful and easily accessible in the area, a surprising place full of peace and tranquility.

Madella mill

The Molino de la Madella is a popular late Gothic style building (17th century) with a rectangular floor plan, of two heights, in an advanced state of demolition.

It preserves the mill structure, with the carcavans at the bottom and some grinding wheels inside. On one side wall you can still guess the bread oven that many of these buildings had. The lintels and jambs of the openings are made of sandstone ashlars, well worked. The outer walls were masonry, with carved river stones.

the Madella

La Madella is a late Gothic style house (17th century) with several added bodies, located in the enclosure that encloses a neighborhood, where we also find beatings and stable for animals.

The main building is large, with a ground floor, a floor and an attic, three bodies wide and a gabled roof. The openings are framed with squared ashlars of local sandstone and the portal is of a semicircular arched point. Legend has it that the owner of the house killed the last wolf on the cliffs. A wolf's paw nailed to the front door is still preserved.

The Paller del Boll

El Paller del Boll is a unique rock located on the southern slopes of the Cingles de Bertí, northeast of Valle Blanca. It is to the right of the Llobregat stream and east of the Grauet del Ullar. In its upper part, in the northeast, is the Plaza de las Brujas, where the popular saying places old witch encounters with the Devil. It is, in fact, a southern buttress of Cerro del Ullar.

Can Batlles

Country house made up of buildings from various periods, originating in the 17th century but with important reforms during the 19th century. The main body is on the ground floor and floor, gabled roof, with the ridge parallel to the main facade. In this, we can see two openings framed in worked stone, with the dates 1679 and 1855 on the lintel of the door.

On the side and rear façade, however, there are windows with lintels with conupial arches. The ground floor is covered with elongated kerchief vaults, and the roof is supported on wooden beams. The body where the presses were is built from 1860, as the lintel says on the door. The entire complex was located on a terrace above the stream, protected by a wall in the form of a wall and closed by an access portal.