Getaway to Moianès: Visiting preindustrial heritage

We will start by heading to Castellcir, where we will find what we could define as a troglodyte house under a cave: Mas Esplugues. It is a self-sufficient stately home, with its own wood, charcoal, mushrooms, medicinal plants, preserves... Indeed, the forest has for many years been the centre of the traditional economy and in this place open to visitors they will tell you about the different uses of the forests and how around sixty trades have had a direct relationship with it (and still do).

The building has a ground floor and upper floors, and the fact that the cave acts as its roof makes it a unique construction. The restored building houses the visitor's centre and there is also a multiuse room for events such as exhibitions and concerts. You can also see an 11th century Romanesque bridge.

To go to Mas Esplugues, leave your vehicle at the Quintana car park and walk for half an hour.

On the second day in the region we will go to Calders, where we will find three circular lime kilns by a house called El Forn de la Calç. Here we will find out about the tradition of limestone mining in the area, dating back to the 10th century. However, the kilns we'll see today date back to the 19th century and were used until the 1950s.

They were used sporadically as every time the lime was baked, around two centimetres of the walls of the construction wore away.

Here you will see the Centre d'Art Contemporani i Sostenibilitat El Forn de Calç (CACIS), devoted to research, production and exhibition of contemporary culture and art projects, especially those related to ecology and the local environment.

From Calders to Monistrol de Calders. Here we suggest a route to discover the technical and historical exploitation of the quarries, the traditional dry stone technique (huts, walls, wells...) and explore its use over time depending on its origin and characteristics.

The route, which forms part of the Ecomuseum, is divided into three stages: from the old centre to l'Om, from l'Om to Pla de Trullars, and from Pla de Trullars to la Casanova. Apart from the aforementioned dry stone constructions, you can also discover very old country houses, a possible Roman road and a dolmen. A journey to the past before returning home to the reality of the present.