Sant Quirze Safaja: Culture and Landscape
Accommodation in Sant Quirze Safaja
Sant Quirze Safaja brings together historic religious buildings, river landscapes and distinctive rock formations. If you are looking for a hotel in Sant Quirze Safaja, you can plan your stay around whether you want to focus on architectural history, nature or trails.
Townscape and Landscape
The old town sits on a long, rocky promontory known as la Molla. Below the historic town centre, a road junction connects the roads from Centelles to Sant Feliu de Codines and from Mollet to MoiĂ . Several streams and brooks, as well as the Riu Tenes, flow through the municipality.
At the confluence of the Riu Tenes and the Torrent de la Font Via lies the Gorg Negre, an approximately circular pool surrounded by large rock formations. During rainy periods, a large waterfall also forms there. Another type of landscape can be seen at the Bauma de l’Espluga: this natural rock shelter closes off a small valley and was partly shaped by the calcareous tufa deposits of water cascading down from above.
Sant Miquel del Fai encompasses a natural area of 70.5 hectares within the municipal boundaries of Bigues i Riells and Sant Quirze Safaja. The area is included in the Cingles de BertĂ Natural Interest Area and is part of the Natura 2000 network. The Cingles de BertĂ are also part of Natura 2000 and include special areas of conservation and special protection areas for birds. Tracks and trails provide access to various routes there. The area around Sant Miquel del Fai also includes caves, shafts, cliffs and pools along the gorge.
Architectural History and Heritage
The parish church of Sant Quirze i Santa Julita preserves an apse from a church built around the turn of the 11th and 12th centuries. Its exterior decoration is in the Lombard style. The bell tower was built later: master builder Joan Bonafacia erected it between 1670 and 1672. The church’s building phases give it a long history, which can be read in its different architectural features.
The current church of the Església de Bertà was probably built in the 13th century and rebuilt in 1437. Sant Pere de Bertà is a rural heritage complex comprising a church with Romanesque elements, a rectory, a cemetery and a comunidor. The church stands in the Cingles de Bertà at an altitude of 825 metres and forms the centre of a hamlet of scattered farmhouses.
The Molà de Llobateres, also known as Molà de Centelles, molà de la Torre or molà de Fontubal, is a building of medieval origin on the right bank of the Riera de Tenes, south of Sant Quirze Safaja. It was remodelled and extended in the modern era. It is designated a Bé Cultural d’Interès Nacional, a property of national cultural interest. Another architectural testament to the former ice trade is the Poua de les Torras: this large, circular underground icehouse has a vaulted stone roof and three rectangular openings through which ice was brought in and removed. Some icehouses in Sant Quirze Safaja remained in use until the first quarter of the 20th century.
Trails and Views
The signposted Mà rius Torres Route is an out-and-back trail between Puigdolena and the centre of Sant Quirze Safaja. The route offers wide-ranging views across the Vallès plain. Puigdolena was a private sanatorium dating from 1933, situated in Sant Quirze Safaja at an altitude of 800 metres. The place is also connected with literary history: Mà rius Torres was admitted there in December and developed as a poet there.
The circular route around Sant Quirze Safaja offers a different perspective, with views of the Riu Tenes valley. Stage 4 of the GR 177 follows trails through forests and over hills around the Riera de Safaja, allowing visitors to discover Sant Quirze Safaja and Castellcir. The different route descriptions thus provide various pointers for choosing a walk, such as the type of route or the named landscape.
The Parc de l’Aigua is a public park with trees, a fountain, benches and a children’s playground. The Torrents cap al riu Tenes route starts here; information boards and an interpretive QR code are also located at the starting point. A marked footpath leads upstream from the town entrance to the Bauma del MolĂ, also known as the Bauma dels Horts. The walk takes about ten minutes. The routes described therefore differ in form: from a signposted out-and-back trail to a circular route and a short walk to a rock shelter.
Discover more destinations: Olèrdola, La Palma De Cervelló, Sant Salvador De Guardiola, Vallromanes, Lliçà de Vall, Tona, Ripollet, Igualada.
For the main travel overview: Barcelona.
