The Castelltallat range (

Catalan Catalan may refer to: Catalonia From, or related to Catalonia: * Catalan language, a Romance language * Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia Places * 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...

: Serra de Castelltallat) is located in central

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 nort ...

(

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

) between the

comarcas A ''comarca'' (, or , or ) is a traditional region or local administrative division found in Portugal, Spain and some of their former colonies, like Brazil, Nicaragua, and Panama. The term is derived from the term ''marca'', meaning a "march, ...

Bages Bages () is a comarca (county) in the center of Catalonia, Spain. It includes a ''subcomarca'', Lluçanès. Industries include the mining of potash at Súria and Sallent, and the manufacture of textiles along the rivers Llobregat and Carden ...

and

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'' (co ...

, extending over the provinces of

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

and Lleida, and occupying an area of about 65 square kilometres. It is one of the isolated hills of the Catalan Central Depression and is located at its southwestern end.

Description

Geologically the Castelltallat range is made up of

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

and marl mountains oriented WSW-ENE. The highest point of the range is the 936 m high "Tossal". The northern slopes are steep and forested, while the southern slopes are used for agriculture owing to their lesser inclination. Most of the mountain belongs to the municipality of

Sant Mateu de Bages Sant Mateu de Bages is a village in the comarca of Bages in province of Barcelona and autonomous community of Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, desi ...

while the western part lies within the municipalities of

Pinós Pinós is a village and municipality in the province of Lleida and autonomous community of Catalonia, Spain. The municipality includes a small exclave to the north-east. The village is regarded as the geographical centre In geography, the centr ...

and

La Molsosa × La Molsosa is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of the Solsonès in Catalonia, Spain. It is situated in the south of the ''comarca'' in the Castelltallat range. It is linked to Calaf by a local road. The municipality is split into two parts, t ...

. The village of Castelltallat was a municipality until 1840 when it became part of San Mateu de Bages municipal term. The parish church of Sant Miquel has been documented since 1031 and is located at an altitude of 887 m. The Church contains samples of Romanesque,

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD ...

, Baroque and neoclassical architectural styles. It was built at the feet of the now ruined 10th or 11th century Castelltallat castle which gave its name to the mountain range, for "Castell talaiat" comes from the words ''"Castell"'', castle, and ''"Talaia"'',

watchtower A watchtower or watch tower is a type of fortification used in many parts of the world. It differs from a regular tower in that its primary use is military and from a turret in that it is usually a freestanding structure. Its main purpose is to ...

Climate

Submediterranean climate with a mean annual temperature of 12 °C, January is the coldest month (3'5 °C) and July and August the warmest (21'5 °C) and annual precipitation of about 600 liters with little or no snow. Most of the range is part of an "Areas of Natural Interest Plan" (''PEIN'') of the

government of Catalonia The Executive Council of Catalonia ( ca, Consell Executiu) or the Executive Government of Catalonia (Catalan: ) is the executive branch of the Generalitat of Catalonia. It is responsible for the political action, regulation, and administratio ...

Fauna and flora

Before the wildfires of 1994 and 1998, pines dominated the landscape: '' Pinus nigra'', ''

Pinus halepensis ''Pinus halepensis'', commonly known as the Aleppo pine, also known as the Jerusalem pine, is a pine native to the Mediterranean region. Description ''Pinus halepensis'' is a small to medium-sized tree, tall, with a trunk diameter up to , exce ...

'' ''

Pinus sylvestris ''Pinus sylvestris'', the Scots pine (UK), Scotch pine (US) or Baltic pine, is a species of tree in the pine family Pinaceae that is native to Eurasia. It can readily be identified by its combination of fairly short, blue-green leaves and or ...

'' and a lesser extent '' Pinus pinea''. After the fires '' Quercus humilis'' and '' Quercus ilex'' sprouts became the most visible trees. Where there is no forest predominate meadow '' Aphyllantion'' or ''

Brachypodium ''Brachypodium'' is a genus of plants in the grass family, widespread across much of Africa, Eurasia, and Latin America. The genus is classified in its own tribe Brachypodieae. Flimsy upright stems form tussocks. Flowers appear in compact spi ...

'' and shrubs specially '' Dorycnum pentaphyllum'' and

rosemary ''Salvia rosmarinus'' (), commonly known as rosemary, is a shrub with fragrant, evergreen, needle-like leaves and white, pink, purple, or blue flowers, native to the Mediterranean region. Until 2017, it was known by the scientific name ''Rosmar ...

. It is remarkable for the presence of the gypsophilous plant named ''ruac'' (''

Ononis ''Ononis'' is a large genus of perennial herbs and shrubs from the legume family Fabaceae. The members of this genus are often called restharrows as some species grow as weeds on arable lands whose tough stems would stop the harrow. They are na ...

tridentata'') in some small gypsum patches and the bastard balm ('' Melittis melissophyllum''). Also interesting are the examples of yellow foxglove ('' Digitalis lutea''), ''Primulas'' ('' Primula acaulis'') and the broom (''

Genista cinerea Genista is a genus of flowering plants in the legume family Fabaceae, native to open habitats such as moorland and pasture in Europe and western Asia. They include species commonly called broom, though the term may also refer to other genera, i ...

''). The bird population seems to have been little affected by wildfires. Among the birds

Eurasian eagle-owl The Eurasian eagle-owl (''Bubo bubo'') is a species of eagle-owl that resides in much of Eurasia. It is also called the Uhu and it is occasionally abbreviated to just the eagle-owl in Europe. It is one of the largest species of owl, and femal ...

( ''Bubo bubo'') is the greatest between the nesting birds. Since a few years it can see the

griffon vulture The Eurasian griffon vulture (''Gyps fulvus'') is a large Old World vulture in the bird of prey family Accipitridae. It may also be known as the Griffon vulture, though it may be used for the genus as a whole. It is not to be confused with Rü ...

(''Gyps fulvus'') fly, coming from the neighboring county of upper

. The number of partridges do not seem to have changed after wildfires. Between feral mammals the number of

wild boar The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The species is ...

s and

fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

es is increasing. The population of rabbits in contrast, is highly variable.

The astronomical observatory

The astronomical observatory was built close to the ruins of the ancient castle as part of the revitalization of the area after numerous

forest fires A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identif ...

. Opened in 2004, the dome of the observatory has a diameter of 5 meters and the telescope 400 mm.

References

Gran Enciclopèdia Catalana * Panareda Clopés, Josep Maria; Rios Calvet, Jaume; Rabella Vives, Josep Maria (1989). ''Guia de Catalunya'', Barcelona: Caixa de Catalunya. (Spanish).

Arqueociencia with picture of the castle ruins.

External links