Bescanó

The municipality of Bescanó is located on the right bank of the Ter river, west of the Gironès region. It occupies 36 km2 of the eastern buttresses of the Guilleries. The towns of Bescanó, Estanyol, Montfullà and Vilanna share a Mediterranean landscape of forested hills.

Delimited: to the north, the Ter river; To the south, the headwaters of Onyar, the Crosa volcano and the Selva plain; to the east, the plain of Girona; and to the west, the Trullàs plain.

The rural environment preserves the agricultural past: fertile fields on the plain, hills of thick forest and some urbanization. The population exceeds 5,000 inhabitants, many people live in Bescanó and go to work in the Girona area; The town grows and develops a modern and dynamic industrial and service economy.

History

The archaeological pieces show a remote, rich and diverse past: Paleolithic settlements on Mount Rigau and the Roman town of Montfullà; Iberian town and silo field of Estanyol, medieval castles of Bescanó; pre-Romanesque chapels and farmhouses of Vilanna. Iberian place names such as Taceram (Ter) and Visigothic place names such as the Wualard de Trullars farmhouse survive. The medieval parishes were structured during the early Middle Ages on four Roman towns: Vilanna, Montfullà, Estanyol and Bescanó.

The county's dominion is maintained in Montfullà and Bescanó, but the kings' debts make the bourgeoisie of Girona buy rents and found farmhouses where they will take refuge from the famine of 1333 and the Black Death of 1348.

The 15th century is a time of squandering. The buildings are damaged by the earthquakes of 1427. The new European states put pressure on Catalonia. Girona is fortified to guard the entrance to the peninsula. Bescanó shares the continuous sieges on the city, the defense, the destruction and the bleeding of the tributes demanded by both the city and the besieged enemies.

During the Carlist wars in Vilanna, the summary executions of Carlists took place (1851) which precipitated the abolition of the mossos d'esquadra corps. Between the second and third Carlist wars, the public schools of Bescanó and Estanyol were established.

At the end of the 19th century, Bescanó began to emerge from the Old Regime: in 1880 the national highway was built and in 1893 the Girona - Olot train was built. Grober and Bonmatí put bridges over the Ter to access the textile factories, a symbol of the change and socioeconomic progress of the 20th century.

The civil war breaks out, and in Bescanó and Estanyol anti-fascist committees are formed that will assume the tasks of defense and municipal government until they achieve political control of the city council.

In the 60s, meat industries, shops, workshops were developed, attracting immigration from the surrounding area. The Susqueda reservoir makes you forget the waterspouts. The Olot train folds. A public nursery replaces the factory one. The expansion grows and the first floors are built in the working-class neighborhood, new houses.

From the 80s here, the economic boost of the metropolitan environment of Girona is taken advantage of, which translates into sustained and sustainable urban and population growth, equipped with all the public services that they can have and maintain.

Places of interest

The Bescanó Tower

Fortified house, with a square floor plan, with Gothic and Romanesque windows on the noble floor. It was the residence of the feudal lords. During the 19th century, the Benages, merchants and landowners, prospered, becoming ennobled with marriages (Marquis of Garcilán) and papal titles (Count of Berenguer).

Church of Sant Llorenç

The first reference to Bescanó mentions the church, probably rebuilt on a pre-Romanesque chapel. Nave with Gothic art ribs and a Baroque style façade (1744 – 1790). The old rectory (1953) and the new rectory (1704) make up the axes of the old town.

Municipal Ethnological Museum

Permanent exhibition of old tools and objects. In the House of Volta. Arranged visits.

Castrum of Baschono

Inheritance from Ot de Montcada, troubadour knight. The castle of Bescanó (1276) is probably the fortified building, with a walled courtyard and Gothic windows, called the castle of Favars (1179 Arnaldi de Fauars and Berengarii de Fauars), later called the castle of Foix or Castelló. For centuries, it has been a farmhouse.

Castellevell Castle

Ruins of Puig del Castell, between the Viader Vell farmhouse (1288) and the Ferrer - Pagès or Fàbrega farmhouse (1213), which were the mayors.

Windmill

Flour mill, farmhouse and administrative and residential complex of feudal landowners. In the 19th century, the Benages family, counts of Berenger, renovated the Hospital farmhouse (1603) turning it into a French-style summer house. Attached to the palace, they built the private chapel and cenotaph of Nuestra Señora de la Concepción. Neo-Romanesque building (1879) made of brick, with an octagonal floor plan with a dome.

Gròber Textile Factory

The water rights from the Benages mill pass to the ribbon and button factory. The industrial complex begins with the construction of the first hydroelectric plant, the first bridge over the Ter (1902). The non-colonial productive system, which employs hundreds of workers, reconverts and modernizes the economy and society of Bescanó, stagnant in the old regime. The Unión Cinema and a daycare service run by Vetlladora nuns are built.

Llibant Boat Pass

The mill boat crossed the Ter three centuries ago. At the beginning of the 20th century, the floods carried away the factory bridge and the boats, rowing and cable, and the boatmen returned: in Roca, in Pere petit... The flood of 1940, which reached Calle de Dalt, takes boats and houses. The last boatman, in Varisto, carried the boat until 1974. At the foot of the pier was the boatman's hostel.