Balma d'Esplugues


Useful Information

Location: Castellcir, Moianes, Barcelona region. Leave the car in the Quintana car park, BV-1310, km 3,8, and walk (30 minutes).
(41.768523, 2.133471)
Open: All year Sat, Sum 12-14.
[2021]
Fee:  
Classification: SubterraneaCave House
Light: LightIncandescent Electric Light System
Dimension:  
Guided tours:
Photography: allowed
Accessibility: no
Bibliography:  
Address: Balma d'Esplugues, Castellcir, Moianes, Barcelona.
Consorci del Moianès, Tel: +34-93-830-14-18, Tel: +34-93-820-80-00.
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then.
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History

1192 first written mention of the name Esplugues.
1408 cave house first mentioned.
1748 building restored, year on lintel.
1755 farmhouse remodelled, year on lintel.
2002 house abandoned by the last inhabitant.
2008 listed in the Catalan heritage register as Bé Cultural d'Interès Local (BCIL).
2011 part of the Moianès Ecomuseum.

Description

The Balma d'Esplugues is a farm house which was built into a natural cave. The place is also good for farming because there are two wells named Poua Montserrat and the Pou d'Esplugues. The house was first built in the 17th century and remodeled in the 18th century. As a farmhouse it was rarely noted in documents. It was in use until 2002 when the last inhabitant left. Subsequently it was taken over by the Ecomuseum of Moianès. It has restricted open hours and is visited only on guided tours. The topic of the exhibition are the self-sufficiency of the house and how people lived in a Moianès farmhouse.

The cave house was built into a balma. The term is the Celtic word for a cave and used in many European countries, sometimes in the form baume. But in this area it is the term for the typical shallow caves along escarpments which were formed by river erosion.