STAGE 17

SANT LLORENÇ - ALBANYÀ


Stage 17: SANT LLORENÇ - ALBANYÀ

Note for those who go by bicycle: This stage, after kilometer 10 will be quite different compared to those who go on foot. See the description at the end of the writing.

We will leave Sant Llorenç de la Muga along Carrer del Barri and when we reach a park where there is a waterwheel to extract water, we will see on our left a step to access a metal footbridge, which goes over a water ditch that borders the river Muga.

At the end of the metal walkway, we will reach the Sant Antoni hermitage and we will cross the river over a beautiful stone bridge, turning right at the end of the bridge. 

Shortly afterwards we will see a turn-off and continue to the right. This path will accompany us for a long time (6.5 kilometres). 

After 1.5 kilometres, when we will reach the Cadamont farmhouse, we will follow the back of the building and then we will not see any significant detour until after 5.5 kilometres when you reach the Coll de les Vinyes, where there is a crossroads of 4 paths.

We will take the one on the right, the so-called Camí d'Albanyà a Sant Martí Sesserres. After 1.1 kilometres we will reach the Coll de la Cirera (with a crossroads of 4 paths a short distance away) and we will take the path on the right, then at a turn-off about 800 metres further on turn left, and when you reach a small stream (clot de la Costa), we will only have 350 metres to go before to see a huge cave. Note: We must be careful not to lose the path as it is hardly marked (sometimes with fluorescent or red paint). In this section it is almost essential to follow the tracks and be guided by the milestones (piles of stones) that we will see.

This is the Bauma d'en Noguer, a cave that was inhabited from the ancient Neolithic period, 5500 BC until the Bronze Age in 700 BC (at the height of the indiketes).

After the visit to locate where the path continues, we will stand with our back to the cave and on our right side we will see a path going up some rocks. In order not to lose "the path" we will have to follow the GPS tracks again and be guided by the small stone mounds. After 800 metres we will come across the path that goes up from Albanyà and we will turn left. As it is marked with yellow paint, it will not be difficult to follow the path until after 1.1 metres you reach a cemented road.

Here we will turn right and about 150 metres later we will reach a large esplanade and take the wide dirt track on our left and after 300 metres we will be in the old village of Lliurona.

A variety of lithic industry (prehistoric stone tools) from the Upper Palaeolithic (Old Würm) of around 33,000 years ago has been found in the surrounding area and there are suspicions that the settlement of this area is older.

The first written mention of the village dates back to 1019 under the name of Sancti Andrear de Lorona

The church is dedicated to St. Andrew and had a valuable 16th century altarpiece with scenes from the life and martyrdom of St. Bartholomew, unfortunately destroyed at the beginning of the civil war. 

In our opinion, we are also sad to see that nowadays, even though the church is deconsecrated, there are animal skulls with horns on the side of the altar that we have not even wanted to photograph.

From the 20th century onwards, the village was gradually depopulated until it was completely abandoned. In the 1980s it was inhabited again by neo-rurals ("hippies" in inverted commas) and they even managed to have a school. We will see traces of this alternative settlement in various places.

Lliurona, or Llorona as it is also known, was the capital of the municipality of Bassegoda, which had several population centres: Ribelles, Pincaró, Sant Miquel de Bassegoda, Corsavell and Sous, each with its own church.

At the beginning of the last century it had two hostels where to stay (Ca la Petronila and l'Hostal de L'Arç). After the visit to this unique village we will return along the same route and then take the path that will take us to the village of Albanyà. 

We will go down this path for 3.5 kilometers until we reach a road where we will turn right, shortly after crossing a bridge and later we will enter Albanyà through Jaume I street and continuing along San Pere street we will arrive in front of the homonymous church, end of stage.

route for bicycles from the collet de la cirera:

If cyclists want to visit the Bauma d'en Noguer, they must follow the path used by walkers (1.2 kilometres) and then return to the same point.

To reach the village of Lliurona, follow the same path for 270 metres until you reach a turn-off where you take the path to the right, which will take you to the 11th century Romanesque church of Sant Miquel de Cirera (which has now been extensively restored).

Then, for 4.9 kilometres, we will follow this same path (Camí de l'Olivera) until we reach the crossroads with the cemented road coming from Sant Martí Sesserres. Here we will turn right and in 4 kilometres more, passing by some farmhouses, we will reach the Coll de Canals del Carig (744 m).

After 800 metres we can turn left onto a dirt track called the "camí de l'església" and after passing by the building of the old Hostal de l'Arç we enter the lower part of the curious village of Lliurona.

After 360 metres we will come to the same tarmac road we came from, which we will take by turning left.

Without getting lost, going down this road for 13.5 kilometres, we will reach the Bassegoda Park campsite and shortly afterwards, on a normal road, the village of Albanyà, in front of the church of Sant Pere, the end of this 37-kilometre stage.

accommodation and practical information stage 17

ALBANYÀ

Although the village of Albanyà is very small, it has several places to stay, a restaurant and some other services. You can visit its website here:

https://www.ddgi.cat/comerc-a-casa/albanya/public/