A fire is always desolate, but it also teaches us many things, such as the paradox of the fragility of the forest in the face of recklessness or human economic interests and the strength of this forest itself when it comes to following its natural cycle and being reborn between the flames.
History is curious, and these days has shown us how there are places that are reluctant to disappear. Wars, economic interests, fires... many are the enemies of heritage, although stronger is the resilience of it that remains alive and standing, unaltered, reminding us every day who we are and where we come from, and marking the path to choose where we want to go and how we want to get there.
The Castle of Queralt dates from the 11th century and its history is our history, because its walls and its surroundings tell us our past, give meaning to our present and guide us towards a future that we desire splendid and in harmony with nature and cultural heritage.
The Grandma and all her friends want to send a huge hug to all the inhabitants of Bellprat, Santa Maria de Miralles and Santa Coloma de Queralt who have been affected by this ecological tragedy, while recognizing, once again, the professionals who risk their lives to take care of our land: farmers, firefighters, rural agents, health workers and volunteers, who have worked tirelessly to prevent this tragedy from being even greater.
More information: Anoia Turisme
Bellprat, surrounded by forests and fields, is a small town in the region of Anoia, with human presence since ancient times, according to remains of the Bronze Age with Iberian settlements.
Nearby, the Castle of Queralt, Castell de Queralt in Catalan, dominates the whole area and is from where you can enjoy a magnificent view over the counties of Anoia, Segarra and Conca de Barberà.
The Castle of Queralt was, in the 10th century, an advanced bastion of the county of Barcelona, documented since 960. Its existence dates back to the previous century.
In 976, Count Borrell sold it to Guitart, Viscount of Barcelona, obtained, by conquest of his grandfather Guifré and by will of his father Sunyer, for the price of 200 pesos of silver. Under the influence of the castle, the town of Bellprat was born.
The Romanesque church of Sant Jaume de Queralt, located at the foot of the castle, served as a parish until in 1425 it was taken over by the church of Sant Salvador in Bellprat.
The small town, at an altitude of 652 m, grows around this church. With a population dedicated almost exclusively to agricultural and livestock activities, in Bellprat wheat, pulses and grapes were harvested and there were also lignite and bauxite farms. The Bellprat
of 1685 had 10 grouped houses and 8 peasants.
Bellprat has managed to beat the passage of time. The old buildings of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries have been reformed and preserved.
The Castle of Queralt is a building in Bellprat (Anoia) declared a cultural asset of national interest.
Nearby is the Church of Sant Jaume de Queralt, which is part of the Inventory of the Architectural Heritage of Catalonia.
It is cliffed on a rocky ridge at the western end of the Queralt mountain range, on the south-western side of the Anoia region, near the dividing line with the Conca de Barberà, the Alt Camp and the Alt Penedès. In the 10th century and due to its strategic location, the castle represents the end of the Marca.
Indirectly, the existence of this fortress can be traced back to the government of Count Guifré, between the years 880-897, when this count organized the repopulation of the county of Osona, of which the Castle of Queralt was at that time the most western. In 976 Count Borrell II and his wife Ledgarda sold to Guitard, Viscount of Barcelona, the Castle of Queralt, located on the edge of the Marca against Spain.
The Barcelona viscount's family leaves the castle in favour of Trasoar from the family of the viscounts of Osona, whose children were awarded the possession of the castle in its entirety. At the beginning of the 11th century, the property was discussed between two lords, Sal·la, bishop of Urgell and Sendred de Gurb.
In 1002, the counts of Barcelona Ramon Borrell and Ermessenda of Carcassonne summoned a trial, and it is assumed that the sentence, which is not known, was in favour of Bishop Sal·la. However, the place is linked to the Gurb-Queralts, who were the only lords, we do not know if by purchase or usurpation, a method often used at the time.
More information: Fem Turisme
During the period of government of Bernat Sendred de Gurb, there was a major repopulation of the western lands of the castle, creating new settlements and the castles of Montargull, Rauric and Figuerola, a task that continued his son Guillem Bernat de Queralt, who died in 1084 and first to use the locative of Queralt as a surname.
Due to several deaths without descendants the property was divided in two branches of the family called Queralt and that owned different class from dominion; for example, on the eminent domain (the right of property superior to the useful dominion of the lords), and the other the possession in feud or the castlania. At the end of the twelfth century and the beginning of the thirteenth, the main branch disappeared, and the secondary branch settled in Queralt.
In 1212, Arnau of Timor bought from Berenguer III of Gurb Queralt the castle in free and his son was named Queralt and reunited the barony of Santa Coloma.
Around 1365 he belonged to Dalmau de Queralt, lord, also of the place of Santa Coloma. Notable lords of Queralt were Pere IV de Queralt, who died in 1408, and above all Pere VI de Queralt, a soldier, diplomat, man of letters, who was in the service of kings Pere el del Punyalet, Joan I and Martí l'Humà.
In 1463 a successor of the lineage, Guerau I, a supporter of the Catalan cause of the Generalitat, was dispossessed by his son Dalmau II, a supporter of John II. Peter VIII, in 1599, received the title of Count of Santa Coloma from Philip III of Castile. The heir, Dalmau III of Queralt, was viceroy of Catalonia at the outbreak of the War of the Reapers (Guerra dels Segadors) and was killed on the day of the Corpus of Blood (June 7, 1640). His son, distinguished by Philip IV, will be elevated to Grande de España in 1647.
The Count of Santa Coloma sold the castle in 1842 to the merchant Josep Safont. The last time it was used as a defence was in the Carlist War.
More information: Ajuntament de Bellprat
as the relationship of a child to its mother.
John Henrik Clarke
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