For culture lovers

A stay in La Rovira de Sagàs will take you back in time to the house’s very interesting past. The first written record tells of Guillem de Ça Rovira, scion of the family, who from 1338 was a bishop in the Monastery of La Portella until his death from the Black Plague in 1348, the year Europe was stricken by one of the deadliest pandemics ever known. However, the house’s fame stems from its connections with witchcraft. At the start of the 17th century, amid a climate of poverty, superstition, and social conflict, accusations of and trials for witchcraft ran riot, especially in the areas around the Riera de Merlès.

La Rovira de Sagàs was thought to house a coven of witches. A farmer named Joana Mateu, alias Matamoros, her sister-in-law, Violant Mateu, alias Xica Mateua, and Francina Vall, alias Berjaula, were hanged as witches in front of the church of Sant Martí de Biure. Other nearby places (el Serrat de la Rovira, la Roca de la Pinya, les Goles de les Heures, etc.) are still remembered as being where witchcraft rituals were celebrated.