Live the legend

. Count Arnau

An authentic example of a feudal lord, he mistreated his vassals, defrauded the labourers of their wages and seduced maidservants. It is said that the stairs that lead up to the Sanctuary of "Mongrony", to "Gombrèn", excavated in the rocks, was constructed by the Count and afterwards he did not pay the salary promised to the workers. It is also said that through a very profound mine that crosses the mountains he came to visit the abbess of the Monastery of Sant Joan and whom he kidnapped one night. When he died, he was condemned to keep on running without stopping over the mountains of "Serra Cavellera" with his blazing horse and his pack of dogs. On nights of tempest, surrounded by the barking of dogs, he frightens the farmers and the people who find themselves in the mountains.

There is a song that originates from the sixteenth century, which is the origin of the legend. We reproduce a fragment:

All by yourself, you pass the hours of the night, loyal woman

All by yourself, you pass the hours of the night, little widow

 

Not all by myself, Count Arnau

Not all by myself, oh bless God

 

Whom do you have for company, loyal woman

Whom do you have for company, little widow

 

God and the Virgin Mary, Count Arnau

God and the Virgin Mary, oh bless God

 

(...)

 

What is this noise I hear, Count Arnau

What is this noise I hear, oh bless God

 

It is the horse that awaits me, loyal woman

It is the horse that awaits me, little widow

 

Give him the grain and the oat, Count Arnau

Give him the grain and the oat, oh bless God

 

He eats neither grain nor oat, loyal woman

But rather damned souls, little widow.

Each year the village of Sant Joan de les Abadesses recalls this legend in the Cycle of Representations of the Myth of Count Arnau. During this festival, which begins the weekend closes to the 15th of July and lasts three weeks, as a first activity, the representation of the legend takes place in the cloister of the monastery. During the rest of the weekends, other concerts and popular activities that are related to the myth and the époque in which it is situated, are offered. There is, for example, the artistic fair "Artivolta" or concerts with troubadour's music, among others.

 

. The Witches of "Malatosca"

Near the Mill of "Malatosca", in Sant Joan de les Abadesses, there is a whirlpool that is said to be of the Witches because they had at one time stayed there. One day they called one of the midwives of the village because one of them was about to bear a child. As payment for her services, they gave her an apron full of lentils and the midwife, extremely angry, threw them all into the River Ter. The next day when she put on her apron, a lentil still stuck to it and she saw that it had been turned into gold.