Buseu
Buseu: Views over the Pla de Corts and a legacy linked to the monastery of Gerri
The village of Buseu is located in the eastern sector of the municipality of Baix Pallars, at 1,342 metres above sea level, on the southern slope of the Serra de les Costes and the Cap del Bosc de Baén.
Its elevated and strategic position above the Riu Major ravine, controlling the old route between Pallars and Alt Urgell, gives it spectacular views over this ravine and the Boumort range. However, this location also meant that living conditions were very harsh, both because of the isolation and the rugged terrain, which made Buseu remain a very small settlement, with a maximum of 31 inhabitants at the beginning of the 20th century, living from agriculture, livestock farming and hunting, and which eventually became depopulated in the 1980s.
The first documentary references we have to Buseu date from the beginning of the 9th century, when Abbot Espanell of Gerri bought two plots of land there. At the beginning of the 11th century, Count Guillem of Pallars donated Buseu, together with its two churches, to the monastery of Gerri. The Romanesque church of Sant Serni dates from the first half of the 12th century. It is a single-nave temple, covered with a barrel vault reinforced by a transverse arch, with a semicircular apse to the east covered with a quarter-sphere vault. The apse has a double-splayed window, blocked on the inside; the exterior is decorated with Lombard arches. The original doorway, now blocked up, opened to the south; today access to the church is through a round-arched doorway located on the western façade. Above the door there is an oculus and a double-arched bell gable.
Today there is a restored house, home to “Projecte Buseu”, an initiative committed to sustainable tourism based on observing native wildlife. Buseu is a haven of peace, harmony and wild nature. In this place, activities related to land use are carried out in ways that are compatible with preserving the landscape, local flora and fauna species, and the associated natural systems.
Today there is a restored house, home to “Projecte Buseu”, an initiative committed to sustainable tourism based on observing native wildlife. Buseu is a haven of peace, harmony and wild nature. In this place, activities related to land use are carried out in ways that are compatible with preserving the landscape, local flora and fauna species, and the associated natural systems.
The abandoned village of Sant Sebastià de Buseu is located in the eastern sector of the municipality of Baix Pallars, in the area known as “Sobre Gerri”. It stands in a place of great scenic beauty, an ideal setting to enjoy nature and tranquillity.
The earliest historical references we have to this village date from the mid-11th century. In the papal bull of the mid-12th century, Pope Alexander III recognises the church of Sant Sebastià as a possession of the monastery of Gerri, a dominion it maintained over the centuries. From its medieval past, the remains of its Romanesque church survive, located in the middle of the settlement. The church of Sant Sebastià had a single rectangular nave with a flat chancel and a bell gable. From this church comes a grey marble altar table, possibly of French origin, measuring 70 x 52 x 7.5 cm, preserved whole except for two slightly chipped corners. It is the only piece of this kind in the whole region, and it is believed it could have a Paleochristian origin and was later reused in the Romanesque period.
Sant Sebastià de Buseu had its own municipality together with the village of Buseu until the mid-19th century, when both were incorporated into the municipality of Baén. Due to harsh weather and its isolation, it was abandoned in the early 1960s, and today the village houses are in a very ruined state.