Montclar

A town in the Berguedà region, Montclar can be said to have existed as an inhabited place since the end of the Roman world and the beginning of medieval times (around the 6th or 7th century).

In the High Middle Ages, between the 7th and 10th centuries, the primary function of Montclar Hill must have been that of an oppidum, a fortified place and a natural refuge for the surrounding population and their livestock.

All the evidence confirms that it was a fortified village, where a church was probably built in Carolingian times (dedicated to Saint Martin). Until the 9th century, the traditionally dispersed settlement was maintained throughout the region, with farmhouses, huts, cabins and towers, and even primitive forms of housing such as caves.

In Montclar two " Strades " or royal roads converged. One royal road made the South-North route from Cardona to Berga. And the other from east to west linked the areas of Lluçanès and Baix Berguedà with Solsonès.

PLACES OF INTEREST

The Bassa

It is a very unique and distinctive element of Montclar. It is a circular surface closed by a wall of about two metres in height, except for the opening of the access stairs that leads to the town square. The vegetation that has grown around it makes this place a cool and very pleasant space in the hottest months. In the past, the pool was filled with rainwater and from the Font del Rector. When the Feria de Reyes was held in the town square instead of the Pla de les Alzines, the pool was used as a drinking trough for the livestock that was sold at the fair.

The Font:

Located at one end of the town square, the Font consists of a tap and a stone trough. It is attached to the wall of the water tank, where the water was stored. The fountain, built with masonry and brick corners and covered by a dome, follows the style of other buildings in the municipality. The tank was filled with water from the Font dels Racons, close to the town (at the foot of the road that leads to Espunyola ) and was used to irrigate the parish priest's gardens, right next to the church.

Church of Santa Cruz de Montclar

The first mentions of the church of Santa Cruz de Montclar date back to the 10th century, at the consecration ceremony of the monastery of Sant Llorenç, near Bagà. Most likely, it was the church of the now-disappeared Montclar Castle, dating from the 13th century.

The Castle

It was the manor house that flanked the entrance to the village. It was a reconquest castle that took advantage of its elevation to guard and protect the population. During the 14th and 15th centuries, the castle passed through different noble owners, lords, knights and even kings, such as James II or Alfonso the Magnanimous. Later, a house was built and, after the War of Succession, the owners at that time, the Parcerissa, were forced to demolish its defensive parts. Currently, only underground elements are preserved in the Cal Sastret house, which was built on the site where the 16th century Montclar Castle was located, there the royal administrative and financial power was delegated to the town.

The Portalet and the Royal Road

The Portalet was the old confluence of the two royal roads that passed through the centre of Montclar; the one from Berga to Solsona and the one from Berga to Cardona. Here the roads from the regions of Berguedà, Solsonès, Bages and Osona met. Today we find a new portal, with semicircular arches from the sixties of the twentieth century, previously there was only a passage under the house.

The Cemetery

Of medieval origin, although it was very likely to have extended around the church, the Montclar cemetery consists of an enclosure with the Cruz del Pedró in the centre (18th-19th centuries). Here the land was blessed and prayers were said between the festivals of the Holy Cross of May and that of September, asking for the protection of the crops. We can also find a fence that corresponds to the custom of separating cemeteries from urban centres at the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th century and the iron access gate, where the peculiar phrase "Today I, tomorrow you" 1912 can be read.

The Rectory

The rectory stands in front of the town square. It is a three-storey building from the late 17th century. Its façade has a balcony that forms an exit overlooking the square and another that forms a porch on the ground floor with four semicircular arched openings. There is an octagonal stone well there.