Baix Pallars

The municipality of Baix Pallars, with an area of 129.41 km2, is the southernmost in the Pallars Sobirà region. The traditional term occupied only 11.36 km2, but in 1969 the municipalities of Peramea (21.53 km2), Baén (52.50 km2) and Montcortès de Pallars (43.42 km2) were annexed. Since that year, the term has received the official name of Baix Pallars.

The municipality is divided into three geographical units with their own characteristics: the area of Baén, located on the banks of the Noguera Pallaresa river and open towards Alt Urgell; the Noguera Pallaresa Valley and the Pla de Corts, which extends from the right bank of the valley to the beginning of the Vall Fosca, characterized by its terraces and by the presence of the karstic lake of Montcortès and the town of Gerri de la Sal located in a narrow valley bathed by the river Noguera Pallaresa.

Our municipality is rich in natural spaces and cultural heritage. We have 3 PEIN areas (Estany de Montcortès, Collegats and Costoia) as well as being within the Boumort National Hunting Reserve.

Thus we find: the Strait of Collegats with the Argenteria, which was a source of inspiration for Gaudí and Mossèn Cinto Verdaguer; the Sleepy Giganta, the large wooded masses of Pentina and Cuberes, where grouse, deer, Egyptian vultures, bearded vultures and vultures inhabit, and the karstic pond of Montcortès, which has been the source of inspiration for many legends.

Regarding cultural heritage, we have three sets declared of National Interest: the closed Villa of Gerri de la Sal and the Monastery of Santa Maria, the Alfolí and the Salt mines of Gerri and the nucleus of Peramea. On the other hand, we have a series of small Romanesque churches in different areas of the municipality, in addition to the megalithic Pla de Corts, with dolmens in Peramea and Peracalç. The most important populations are: Gerri de la Sal, Peramea and Montcortès.

In the town of Gerri de la Sal it is a must stop to visit: the salt flats, aligned as if they were a geometric composition and that draw a landscape of great beauty, the closed town, with its porches, narrow alleys, etc... the Real Alfolí de Gerri current headquarters of the Gerri Museum and the Monastery of Santa Maria from the s. XII authentic jewel of the Pallares Romanesque and of which only its church is preserved.

If we talk about popular and traditional culture we cannot forget the Dance of the Morisca. The dance has become an element of the collective identity of the town, and its staging has the active participation of a good part of the villagers. It is an ancient dance, of uncertain origin, but due to the name and some details of the steps and costumes, we can relate it to the medieval dance of the same name, redone throughout the modern age and the 19th century.

In Peramea, we find the town, spread out between the castle and the Colomers tower, it is made up of two porticoed streets towards the central space and closing the town from the outside, hence the name of closed town. In Peramea, the Lo Vent de Port Cultural Association is in charge of showing the peculiarities of the town with the starting signal for the Era d'Ortega, an example of traditional architecture and agricultural-livestock production unit based on the family structure..

Lake Montcortès, of karstic origin, is one of the few samples of a natural lake area that exists in the Pre-Pyrenees; located at 1065 m. of altitude, it has a single basin and a maximum depth of 30 m., the entrance of the water is underground, this fact has given it a mysterious and legendary aspect. In addition to its rich fauna (waterfowl), fish and landscape. It is a space of great scientific and scenic interest, with unique characteristics, a singular lake system, great wealth and diversity of flora and fauna species.

Collegats located to the south of the term around the Noguera Pallaresa, represents one of the most visited natural spaces in the municipality. At this point we find the Argenteria, sources of inspiration for many legends, it is said that Gaudí was inspired by this spectacle of nature to create the Casa Batlló in Barcelona.

La Geganta Dormida is the silhouette of the Sierra de Peracalç. It rises at noon from Pla de Corts, a plateau between the valleys of Flamisell and Noguera Pallaresa. It receives that name because it looks like a woman lying down.

Boumort National Hunting Reserve includes the Cuberes, Boumort and Carreu mountain ranges, affecting the municipalities of Baix Pallars ( Pallars Sobirà ), Conca de Dalt ( Pallars Jussà ) and Los Valles de Aguilar ( Alt Urgell ). It is a sample of the diversity of the natural systems of the lower central Pre-Pyrenees, the diversity of flora and the rarity of some species. Diversity of fauna, with highly differentiated zoogeographic elements, with the presence of populations of deer and the most important breeding of necrophagous birds of prey in Catalonia.

The greatest value of the Boumort National Hunting Reserve is its wealth of fauna, which with the presence of certain species of mammals and birds make it unique in Catalonia and Europe. Throughout the Reserve, a total of 117 species of vertebrates have been observed, including mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles and fish. However, the most important are mammals and birds.