The massif of Montserrat spreads from east to west like a range. Its large, typical views are seen from the north -the district of Bages– or from the south -the districts of Baix Llobregat and partially Anoia. Opposite to this, Montserrat displays a compact look from east or west. However, the outline of La Cadireta d’Agulles (= the small chair of horns region) and La Roca Foradada (= the bored rock) outstand in the north. La Cadireta and La Roca Foradada are, together with El Cavall Bernat, the most popular place names amongst the endless horns, walls and shapes of conglomerate in the surrealistic relief of Montserrat.
La Roca Foradada and La Cadireta d’Agulles are part of a ridge further north from the big walls of north hillside. They’re located in west tip of the mountain. The border between the municipalities of Marganell and El Bruc goes through them, so between the districts of Bages and Anoia as well.
The hole of La Roca Foradada is a triangle with flat soil and tilt walls as a roof. This shape is not frequent in Montserrat where most of cracks are vertical. It’s big size, roughly 10 meters high and 5 meters deep. Therefore, La Roca Foradada is not just a window, it’s a big hole in a mountain ridge. It’s easy to climb to it. One narrow path starting from long-distance food path GR-172, known as path to La Roca Foradada in this stretch, leads to it. La Roca Foradada is a beautiful belvedere of the center of Catalonia. Some days in autumn, the sunset through La Roca Foradada is seen from lucky places in south of Bages.
On the other hand, the shape of La Cadireta is normal pattern of erosion in Montserrat. Its ceiling is a popular, very difficult climb. Unavoidably some day in a few, a thousand or a hundreds of thousand years, who knows when, La Cadireta d’Agulles will fall down because the erosion of clay layers or because the deepening of the crack that separates it from the mainland. In pictures 1st and 2nd, La Cadireta d’Agulles and La Roca Foradada. In picture 3rd, their location north in Agulles area as seen from the west in pass of La Guàrdia.
[photos Jordi Badia (1st and 3rd) and Montserrat Porta (2nd)]