Besora Castle is a

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

located in the

Vall de Lord Vall is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Ely Ould Mohamed Vall (born 1953), Mauritanian military officer * Raymond Vall (born 1942), French politician See also * Örjans Vall, football stadium in Halmstad, Sweden * Vall, th ...

, in the municipality of

Santa Maria de Besora Santa Maria de Besora is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of Osona in Catalonia, Spain. It is situated on the north side of the Bellmunt range in the north of the ''comarca''. It is linked to Sant Quirze de Besora and to Vidrà by a local road. ...

, between Navès and the Serra de Busa, in the '' comarca'' of

Solsonès Solsonès () is a comarca (county) in Catalonia, Spain. It is part of historic county of Urgell Modern-day Urgell (), also known as ''Baix Urgell'' (''baix'' meaning "lower", by contrast with Alt Urgell "Higher Urgell"), is a ''comarca'' (c ...

in the province of

Lleida Lleida (, ; Spanish: Lérida ) is a city in the west of Catalonia, Spain. It is the capital city of the province of Lleida. Geographically, it is located in the Catalan Central Depression. It is also the capital city of the Segrià comarca, as ...

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...

, Spain. The castle is built above a rocky spur at an altitude of 1,092 m, and was accessible only by a path from the north, duly fortified. It is formed by three extended buildings, today converted into a rural dwelling in the local style, the masia.

History

The earliest historical mention of the castle is in the year 982, according to some sources or in 885;Castillos medievales de Catalunya: Osona
in either case it appears already cited in 875 in the donation of the dowry of Emma, daughter of

Wilfred the Hairy {{Infobox noble, type , name = Wilfred , title = Count of Barcelona , image = Wilfredo el Velloso 01.jpg , image_size = 150px , caption = Statue in Madrid, L. S. Carmona, 1750–53 , al ...

count of Barcelona The Count of Barcelona ( ca, Comte de Barcelona, es, Conde de Barcelona, french: Comte de Barcelone, ) was the ruler of the County of Barcelona and also, by extension and according with the Usages of Barcelona, usages and Catalan constitutions, of ...

, as a gift when she entered the monastery in

Sant Joan de les Abadesses Sant Joan de les Abadesses () is a town and municipality located in the south-east of the comarca of Ripollès, in the province of Girona, Catalonia, Spain. Geography and climate The town is located along the upper part of the River Ter, in the v ...

. During the Muslim period, it was one of the castles used to watch the frontier with the Christian territories. At the end of the ninth century, Wilfred the Hairy established military positions in Cardona, Osona,

Berguedà Berguedà () is an inland comarca (county) in Catalonia, Spain, lying partly in the Pyrenees and Pre-Pyrenees, and partly in the Catalan Central Depression. Geography The northern half of Berguedà, known as Alt Berguedà (“Upper Berguedà� ...

and in the Vall de Lord. Possibly the border of the county was then to the north of the city of Solsona, marked by the castle of Besora. Parts of its walls are preserved, as a residential area. In addition, remains of the old parish church of

, which was the parish church until the one in use now was built in 1759. During the

War of the Remences The Rebellion of the Remences or War of the Remences was a popular revolt in late medieval Europe against seignorial pressures that began in the Principality of Catalonia in 1462 and ended a decade later without definitive result. Ferdinand I ...

in the 15th century, the castle was occupied on various occasions by

Francesc de Verntallat Francesc de Verntallat (Sant Privat d'en Bas, 1426 or 1428 - Sant Feliu de Pallerols, 1498 or 1499) was a Catalan nobleman who captained the Remensa Army in the War of the Remences, a conflict overshadowed by the Catalan Civil War. For this reason ...

.Santa Maria de Besora on Laplanaweb.com
/ref> The castle suffered considerable damage, and was almost destroyed during the

First Carlist War The First Carlist War was a civil war in Spain from 1833 to 1840, the first of three Carlist Wars. It was fought between two factions over the succession to the throne and the nature of the Monarchy of Spain, Spanish monarchy: the conservative a ...

in 1838, when it served as a refuge and a battle site for a

Carlist Carlism ( eu, Karlismo; ca, Carlisme; ; ) is a Traditionalism (Spain), Traditionalist and Legitimists (disambiguation), Legitimist political movement in Spain aimed at establishing an alternative branch of the House of Bourbon, Bourbon dynasty ...

force.Parquesnaturales.com
The royalist leader Buenaventura Carbó, who later served as

governor of Cuba This is a list of colonial heads of Cuba. Dates in italics indicate ''de facto'' continuation of office. For continuation after independence ''see'' List of presidents of Cuba. See also * List of governors of Provincia de Santiago de Cuba *Ti ...

, was forced to flee the castle and the parish.

References

External links

*
Data about the lineage of Besora
*
Document of the consegration of the church in 898
*
PDF document of the diary of ''Avui'' and ''Fundació Castells Culturals de Catalunya''
{{coord, 42.027, N, 1.598, E, display=title, source:cawiki Besora