Rossinyol bridge

Rossinyol bridge crosses the river of the same name, providing an elegant welcome to the historical site of Sant Miquel del Fai. It was built in 1592, when the monastery was already under the protection of Girona Cathedral, as part of a series of alterations that were made to the site, including the creation of La Foradada passage.

Built in the Romanesque style, the bridge has a segmental semi-circular arch. The slope of the roadway is less steep on the entrance side of the bridge and steeper on the opposite side. The soffit, i.e. the lower, concave surface of the bridge’s arch, is made up of fairly regular stones. With stretches of river pebbles, stone slabs and cobblestones, the road surface is mixed. On both sides of the bridge, at the start, there are small vaults called squinches, which serve to support the arch.
 

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La Foradada passage

La Foradada passage is a narrow passage between rocky walls where in 1592 an arch was built as an entrance to the monastery site. The arch is round, with ashlars and a central voussoir, and was built under the archdeacon Jaume d’Agullana. Above the arch, on its north face, there is a straight crown with rectangular ashlars. In the centre, there is a sculptural element featuring an ecclesiastical coat of arms, with a cardinal’s hat and two tassels on each side, and an inscription about its authorship. On the opposite side there is a lintel with another inscription, below which there are three needles, the heraldic coat of arms of the Agullana family.

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Fortified gateway

The opening of La Foradada passage forced the closure of the northern entrance in the late 16th century, leading to the construction of the current fortified gateway. The gateway has undergone many alterations. In the 19th century there was a bell located above the door, while in the early 20th century a machicolation. After passing through the fortified gateway, the first space you come across is a square, wedged between the rocky walls, with several channels that carry water through the rock.

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Priory

The priory housed the prior and the quarters in which a community of Benedictine monks lived. It consists of a Gothic-style manor house, with a more or less square structure and a gable roof. The building has not undergone any major alterations throughout history and is considered to have been built between the late 16th and early 17th centuries. With the disentailment spearheaded by General Espartero in 1841, the priory became state property, worship in the churches of Sant Miquel del Fai was suppressed and the priory was converted to provide lodging and as a restaurant for visitors.

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Cliffs and caves

There are two key features that make up the landscape of Sant Miquel del Fai: the cliffs and the caves. Cliffs are vertical walls formed by sedimentary rocks such as sandstone, marl and conglomerate. Caves, on the other hand, are natural cavities formed by the erosive effect of water.

Despite the sheer size of the cliffs in this area, rupicolous plants -that is, those that live on rocks- are not particularly diverse, possibly due to the lack of north-facing walls and the type of soil in the region. Rock-dwelling plants that do exist include Sarcocapnos enneaphylla and the wall-rue (Asplenium ruta-muraria). In terms of endemic species, the malling toadflax (Chaenorhinum origanifolium spp. cadevalli) and the Pyrenean violet (Ramonda myconi) can be found. In contrast, the flora growing on scree, flat areas and rocks is more diverse, with species such as the giant fennel (Ferula communis) and Centaurea intybacea.

The rocky walls are the chosen environment for many birds, which make up the most interesting faunal community in the area. The list of species related to this habitat is extensive, with birds such as the Bonelli’s eagle (Aquila fasciata), the alpine swift (Tachymarptis melba), the common raven (Corvus corax), the blue rock-thrush (Monticola solitarius), the Eurasian crag martin (Ptyonoprogne rupestris), the rock sparrow (Petronia petronia), the stock dove (Columba oenas) and the wallcreeper (Tichodroma muraria), a wintering species.

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Sant Miquel church

Everything seems to indicate that, in the year 1006, the Romanesque church of Sant Miquel had already been consecrated, although there are no documents to verify this. If this were true, construction of the church would have begun during the previous nine years.

The church is built under a large cave with the rock forming its roof. The current south-facing entrance consists of a semicircular arched doorway. A low belfry is mounted on the south side, since the way the church is built into the cave made it impossible to place it on top. The cloister of Sant Miquel forms a corridor right in front of the church’s façade.

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The Rossinyol Waterfall

The Rossinyol Waterfall is formed by the river of the same name when the water descends from the Bertí Cliffs, near the Priory House. At the base opens a large overhang known as Sant Miquel Cave.
The Rossinyol is a river of the Besòs basin that rises in the district of Sant Martí de Centelles (Osona), crosses Sant Quirze Safaja (Moianès) and drains into the Tenes, in the municipality of Bigues i Riells del Fai (Vallès Oriental). It is precisely between these last two municipalities that the water descends the cliffs of Bertí, forming one of the emblematic waterfalls of this area, the Salt del Rossinyol. The cascade is close to the Priory House and at the base opens under a large cliff overhang known as Sant Miquel Cave.

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 Galeria d'imatges dels salts d'aigua.

Sant Miquel cave

Sant Miquel cave, discovered in 1836, consists of a single gallery running in a north-east/south-west direction that spans a length of roughly 50 to 60 metres. The cave is formed from calcareous tufa (calcium carbonate precipitated out of ambient temperature water) that covered the entire cave. The tufa ended up forming walls that shut off the cave from the outside, leaving behind a cavity. Once shut off from the outside, a karst environment developed within it, creating stalagmites and stalactites that covered the inner side of the walls.

The cave has no archaeological potential, since it has been completely modified with modern structures and infrastructures so that it can be visited by the public, although it is of great educational interest due to current geological processes concerning the formation of calcareous tufa.

One of the most interesting zoological groups to inhabit caves such as Sant Miquel cave are bats. Species living in the cave include the most vulnerable, mainly cave-dwelling species, such as the common bent-wing bat (Miniopterus schreibersii), found in Sant Miquel cave, the three horseshoe bats (the greater, Rhinolophus ferrumequinum; the Mediterranean, R. euryale, and the lesser, R. hipposideros) and some species of myotis bats, such as the greater mouse-eared bat (Myotis myotis), the long-fingered bat (M. capaccinii), the Daubenton’s bat (M. daubentonii) and the Geoffroy’s bat (M. emarginatus).

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El Repòs square

In 1971, Josep Pla referred to Sant Miquel del Fai in his Guia de Catalunya and, with his usual sharp, mocking tone, noted:

‘We left the road and, on foot, along a (bad) path, we reached this unforgettable place. An old bridge led us to an open lookout point in the living rock. From there, we saw the old monastery, which today is a hotel perched on the mountain, some open holes in the rocky wall and, in the background, a very narrow valley, with many swallows flying over it. What we did not see anywhere was the waterfall. Faced with such contrariness, we questioned a local woman, who told me:

-The waterfall exists, but it only works on Sundays. Today is Wednesday. Do you understand? You have come on the wrong day.

I was stunned. I would never have suspected the existence of waterfalls with fixed, intermittent and weekly schedules. The impetuous description of the waterfall made by Victor Balaguer, I think, was very bad.

-So this is a weekly waterfall, like illustrated magazines and football games—I told the woman.

-If you were a teacher and had come with the boys or girls from your school, they would have shown it to you. They usually do so when children come with their teachers. Otherwise, the waterfall only works on Sundays, when there are people, because it would be a shame if those who come up to see it were left wanting to.’

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Les Monges lake

Near El Repòs square, half hidden under the rock, there is a small pond of stagnant water known as Les Monges lake.

The name of the lake is related to a local legend, which tells of a convent of nuns that was destroyed by a lightning strike during a terrible storm. This was punishment for a night of debauchery that the nuns had shared with some gentlemen.

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Tenes waterfall

The Tenes river makes its presence felt in Sant Miquel del Fai with a 100-metre-high waterfall that belongs to the municipality of Bigues i Riells.

Calcareous tufas that are currently in the process of formation can be found at the Tenes waterfall. They can be identified by abundant calcareous deposits with vertical structures.

The waterfalls are surrounded by plant communities of great interest. Mosses abound alongside populations of fern species such as the black maidenhair fern (Adiantum capillus-veneris).

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 Image gallery of waterfalls.

Old entrance gate

Once past Tenes waterfall, the path that leads to Sant Martí chapel begins. Along the path is the old gate that provided access to the priory place before the current entrance was opened thanks to the construction of the Rossinyol bridge and La Foradada passage. The gateway has a semicircular archway on the right-hand side built with cut, regular ashlars and has preserved part of the hinges of the now non-existent door. Before reaching Sant Martí chapel, the path then passes under a large rusty iron conduit covered by vegetation. The pipe was used to carry water from the Tenes river to the power plant at the bottom of the valley.

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Sant Martí chapel

Sant Martí chapel is a Romanesque building that was documented for the first time in 877. It has a nave with a pointed barrel vault, a semi-circular apse and a gable roof. The chapel has retained part of a bell-gable without bells. Behind the altar there is a reproduction of part of the original early Linear Gothic-style paintings. In 1576, the priory of Sant Miquel del Fai joined together with the major archdeaconry of Girona Cathedral, for which Jaume d’Agullana was at the time responsible. This union did not bring about major changes to the chapel. In the mid-19th century, the church was disentailed.

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Les Tosques cave

Les Tosques, El Bon Pastor or Sant Martí cave has a cumulative depth of 22 metres and a length of 120 metres. The cave has been formed within tuffaceous masses and has undergone artificial alterations (stairways, galleries, rooms, etc.) made possible by the fact that tufas are rocks that are easy to cut. In certain areas of the cave, calcite growth can even be observed over scribbles made in the early 20th century. As a result of the alterations that it has undergone, the cave has lost its archaeological potential.

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