The best family-friendly hikes and walks around Pantà de la Llosa del Cavall

Sant Llorenç de Morunys is a town in the Solsonès region located at 925 metres above sea level, surrounded by the Port del Comte, Busa and Verd mountain ranges. It has a well-preserved medieval centre, with walls, cobbled streets and the 11th-century Romanesque church of Sant Llorenç, as the centre of the complex. It is a key point of passage and stop for mountain routes, cycle tours and crossings through the Pre-Pyrenees. The entrance and exit of the town can be done via roads with demanding slopes or forest tracks depending on the itinerary, but it is always worth stopping there to recover energy, fill up water bottles or take a quality break. A good place to charge batteries, both physical and e-bike.

big and quiet

Sant Llorenç de Morunys is a curious mountain town in the Solsonés region. If you are on the road here, do not hesitate to make a stop and recharge your batteries at any of its establishments.

It is said that in the past, people used to go to these sources to drink from them for nine consecutive days with the intention of curing their ailments. Although bathing can be beneficial for skin conditions, it is best to refrain from swallowing it.

At the highest point of Mola de Lord we find the classic key of the I.C.G.C. and a railing that protects against the temptation to reach the car park by the fastest route, because it is right at the foot of the cliff. On March 1, 2014, a cross was placed at the head of the Mola mound, as a sign of a place consecrated to the Lord and to devotion to his Saint. Mother, the Virgin Mary. The blessing was done in the company of a good group of friends from the Sanctuary.

On November 19, 2017, the Chapel of St. Jaume, destroyed by time decades ago. The two accesses to climb the mountain are, the path of St. Peter and that of St. James, both crowned, upon reaching the top, with the Chapels dedicated to these Saints. The ruined Chapel of St. Jaume has been able to recover it due to the generosity of the Puig de la Bella Casa Family.

The Verger viewpoint was appropriated by the Ja Arribarem-Club Excursionista Group on its 25th anniversary (2017) and dedicated it to Josep Cases, one of its members who died of illness a few months ago. It is a good vantage point with a panorama that covers from Cap de Verd to the Serres de Busa - Bastets and at its feet the swamp of Llosa de Cavall.

Documented since the end of the 10th century as an ancient hermitage center, in the 11th century it became dependent on the monastery of Sant Llorenç de Morunys. A church was built there in the fifteenth century, and between 1582 and 1634 a community of Dominican friars was established there. The increase in his patrimonial assets led to the construction of a new temple between 1774 and 1785, which came to serve, in 1812, as a depot for French prisoners and was devastated in 1836 during the Carline War; a cannon from that time is preserved there, located at the entrance to the sanctuary. The current building was built on the initiative of the industrialist Esteve Monegal between 1867 and 1870, and was inaugurated on August 19 of this year. In 1896 a great fire, perhaps caused by lightning, completely destroyed the high altar and the paintings representing the legend. The image of the Virgin Mary was rescued and the temple was repaired. In 1901, a new high altar was inaugurated, this time financed by José Monegal. In 1929, the two Masriera canvases were installed there, replacing the previous two, burned in the 1896 fire. After the family that lived in the Sanctuary left at the end of the sixties of the 20th century, in 1971 Father Jordana, coming from the Monastery of Poblet, who had been Prior-President of Poblet and of the Spanish Cistercian Order, arrived in La Mola to reside there and lead a retired life. In 1975, a new reconstruction of the Sanctuary began and in the following years, electric light and running water were added. In 2008, the Hostatgeria del Santuari was inaugurated there, a "eucharistic, biblical place, a place to transmit the peace of God