History and culture

Until the mid-nineteenth century the land included in this area corresponded to a pond that was dried to obtain new crops and fight malaria. Even so, thanks to its conditions of special humidity and flooding, several species of flora and fauna characteristic of wetlands are still preserved.

In recent centuries, areas of natural flooding have receded and today are scarce in Catalonia. In our Mediterranean context, the conservation of spaces such as the Estany de Sils has therefore been of the greatest interest.

Map of Aparici, 1720
Map of Aparici, 1720

Background

Formerly, the Estany de Sils was the largest lagoon in the Selva center. Some chroniclers attribute it seven kilometers long and one and a half wide.

In a sheltered field, in the middle of a peninsula that went into the ancient Estany de Sils, have been located, as in other places of the Selva center, remains of human occupation between 150,000 and 300,000 years ago.

The Via Augusta seems to have divided into two arms when it reached the Estany de Sils: one passed through the current guesthouse La Granota and headed towards the coast, following approximately the current route of the N-II, while the other deviated inland.

The bad reputation of the lagoons 

Malaria was, until the early twentieth century, a common disease among the inhabitants of swampy areas. Mosquitoes of the genus Anopheles, which thrive in stagnant water, are the main transmitting agent.

Because of malaria, lagoons were considered unhealthy places. Until the discovery of infectious processes, limited medical knowledge prevented understanding that the disease was due to a microorganism, Plasmodium, transmitted by the Anopheles mosquito.

The enlightened hygienists of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries promoted the drainage of lagoons with sanitary arguments of pest control. The need for new land for cultivation also spurred the drying of lagoons.

Estany de Sils. Photo of the Arxiu Municipal de Sils
Estany de Sils. Photo of the Arxiu Municipal de Sils

The desiccations of the Estany de Sils

Attempts to desiccate the Estany de Sils have been continuous since the Middle Ages, often with only relative success.

1247 First attempts at desiccation promoted by the Viscount of Cabrera. 
|
1362 The Estany resurfaces and many farmlands are denied under the waters.
|  
1626-1654 Various initiatives for the drying of the Estany.  
|  
  1703 The Marquis of Aitona and the engineer Martí Mariscal sign a contract for the drying of the Estany. The works were never carried out.
|  
1740 The Duke of Medinaceli, now lord of Estany, places around it some milestones with the inscription "ESTAÑ MARC EN 1740".    
|  
  1762 The Duke of Medinaceli, signs a new contract for the drying of the Estany de Sils.
|  
1766 The Duke of Medinaceli has more milestones placed, to mark the water level and deduce how much land has been released.    
|  
  1767-1768 Drying works are carried out. 
|  
1790 From the tales of the traveler Francisco de Zamora it is clear that the desiccations of 1767 were ineffective.    
|  
  1840 The water refuses to leave 1,400 "vessanes" of land (about 320 hectares).
|  
1841 The Queen Mother Maria Cristina spends the night at the guesthouse of La Granota. The mayors of Sils, Maçanet de Selva and Vidreres visit her and explain the need to dry up the Estany.    
|  
  1845 Talks begin between the Duke of Medinaceli, Lord of the Estany, and the tenants to pull forward the desiccation. An agreement is signed in front of the notary of Girona J.M. Salomó.
|  
1856 The agronomist J. Bayer directs the drying works. The irrigation canal of Sils is definitively built.

 

This was the definitive desiccation of the Estany de Sils, achieved with the construction of a central drainage channel, the current irrigation canal of Sils, which drains water into the Santa Coloma stream.

 

Consequences of desiccation

After the final desiccation, the lands of the old Estany de Sils were divided into small plots among the peasants of the vicinity. The distribution of land was not in exchange for anything, since these peasants were forced to pay a tax to the Dukes of Medinaceli, former lords of the Estany. In addition, with their personal effort, the peasants had to keep the irrigation channels clean of sediment.

The meadow was for many years the main economic resource of the inhabitants of the surroundings of the Estany de Sils. The difficult drainage of the area made cultivation difficult, but it offered good harvests of grass: a treasure for the small farms and livestock of the time.

The socio-economic changes of recent decades have led to the collapse of small farms. The meadows have ceased to have economic interest and have been abandoned or have been replaced by poplar crops. Taxes have stopped being paid and no one has a permanent cure for the drainage systems. All this has meant a profound modification in the landscape and in the functioning of the natural systems of the area. The photographs of recent years are a faithful witness of this important change.

Oxes tilling in Can Severí del Massabè. Photo by Valentí Fargnoli.
Oxes tilling in Can Severí del Massabè. Photo by Valentí Fargnoli.
Photo by Miquel Cantó.
Photo by Miquel Cantó.

Myths and legends

In the surroundings of the lagoons and wetlands have originated numerous legends of souls in sorrow and supernatural beings. Many refer to the screams, bellows and howls that resonate near the waters at sunset. Undoubtedly, the voices of aquatic birds and night mists have a lot to do with the origin of this magical universe.

Image The pilgrim of Tossa

The pilgrim of Tossa

The recurrence of diseases caused the frightened population to seek supernatural protection. The cult of Saint Sebastian, Saint Roch and the Holy doctors (Saint Cosmas and Saint Damian, patrons of Sils) considered protectors against all types of pestilence spread.

Since the end of the fifteenth century, every January 20 the Pilgrim makes the way from Tossa to Santa Coloma de Farners on foot passing through Sils, in fulfillment of a promise made to San Sebastian that is said to have freed the town of Tossa from the plague. The cult of Saint Sebastian has traditionally been associated with protection against epidemics.

Photo of the Pilgrim of Tossa in 1988. By Vilaró's family.

Image Pere Porter and the entrance to hell

Pere Porter and the entrance to hell

The Estany de Sils was considered the gateway to hell. Legend has it that the devil sank there when from above Montseny he made a bet with San Martín to see who made the biggest jump. An anonymous writing of the seventeenth century, the legend of Pere Porter, tells the story of a poor man who was claimed a debt he had already paid and who, to prove his innocence, traveled to hell through the Estany de Sils, where he located the notary responsible for the error. A story similar to Dante's Divine Comedy, where members of influential social classes are rather battered, since Pere Porter finds them all in hell.

Illustrations of Montserrat Casanova. Extracted of the book "El cas estrany d'en Pere Porter" (2007).

Current moment

The construction of the A-7 motorway split in half the lands of the old Estany de Sils. The subsequent expansion and increase of traffic on the nearby road network and the growing urbanization of the territory have also led to an isolation and fragmentation of this natural area.

The drainage of irrigation channels with heavy machinery – replacing traditional dredging methods – and the strong pollution of the waters have affected the natural systems of the Estany de Sils for a long time.

All the new interventions have caused the disappearance of numerous species of fauna and flora typical of aquatic environments, meadows and open areas in general. A mass extinction that not even the drying of the Estany caused.

Animals such as the european polecat and plants such as the marsilea are examples of very rare species that have disappeared from the Estany de Sils in recent decades.