MILITARY ROUTE

The viscountcy of Cabrera articulated itself through a network of castles and fortified houses, which were the seats of politic and military power for the nobility in the Middle Ages. This defensive system was supplemented with a number of walled-in villages and watchtowers.

The earliest known reference to this fortification dates from the year 940. Today, medieval remains can still be seen, including the base of a circular tower around 3.5 metres in diameter, built with squared ashlar blocks and lime mortar, several walls and a cistern covered with a barrel vault and sealed with a large stone slab. In the early 20th century, Josep M. Pericas carried out the first excavation, and in 1972 the base of the round tower and the foundations of the access wall were unearthed. A later survey revealed an arrowhead, fragments of medieval pottery and a strategic ancient path, partially carved into the rock, which provided access to the site. In 2019, the L’Esquerda Foundation conducted an archaeological intervention that documented the full layout of the circular tower and a northern enclosing wall. In 2021, the documented structures were consolidated and restored.
The castle, located on a hilltop, defended the territory that now forms the municipality of L’Esquirol. It was the ancestral home of the Cabrera family, one of the most influential feudal lineages in medieval Catalonia. Gausfred de Cabrera was the first recorded lord of the castle in the early 11th century. The castle remained part of the viscounty of Cabrera until the abolition of feudal lordships in the 19th century.