The natural shelter of Els Polvorers is on the steep slope of the right bank of the Cardener river in Manresa, just beyond the Renfe train freight station and the old Campsa fuel tanks, between the Santa Caterina tower plateau and the river. The area is known as Els Polvorers (= gunpowder makers) because in this stretch and riverside there used to be gunpowder mills that operated under the control of the royal monopoly from the mid-16th to the mid-19th century. The textile factory that replaced them kept the name of Els Polvorers; therefore, avoiding the extinction of the toponym. The shelter is accessible through the path that connects La Guia with the path of Les Pedreres on Santa Caterina tower plateau and, besides de south-west corner of the made of bricks long wall that closes the property of the old Campsa tanks, following a reopened turnoff through the ambushed terraces for roughly 50 meters.
The natural shelter of Els Polvorers measures 25-30 meters long, 2-5 meters deep and 3-5 meters high; it is a really long shelter. The slope of Els Polvorers is shady; thus, the shelter faces northeast. The inside of the shelter is dry. The ceiling is made by a thick, flat layer of sandstone above a thin layer of less consistent rock that erosion has hollowed out further inside. One small stretch of the shelter is partially covered by an old stone wall (4th photo).
The rock layer of the ceiling contains several specimens of Cerithium giganteum, this is the large Eocene marine snail with a conical, 40 cm length shell.
Both rocks, the ceiling and the wall, have enigmatic cannonballs.
The layer of rock that constitutes the roof of the shelter of Els Polvorers can be seen from the opposite bank of the Cardener river, this is the area of Sant Pau and Fàbrica Blanca, though not the shelter itself that remains hidden by the dense vegetation that has grown in the shady slope of Els Polvorers subsequent to the abandon of olive tree crops.
The natural shelter of Els Polvorers is an additional point of natural interest to the nature route M2 – The stream of Rajadell of the Anella Verda de Manresa (= green belt of Manresa).
[photos Florenci Vallès and Jordi Badia (1st, 2nd and 5th) and Montserrat Porta and Jordi Badia (3rd, 4th, 6th, 7th and 8th)]
- See the group of ICHN-Bages in the natural shelter of Els Polvorers, on 02.11.2025.