Sarroca de Baén
Sarroca de Baén
Sarroca is a small settlement located in the area known as “Sobre Gerri”, at 1,436 metres above sea level, in the easternmost sector of the municipality of Baix Pallars, surrounded by a stunning natural and scenic setting, perfect for enjoying peace and quiet. Due to its small size, it never had its own town council and has always belonged to the municipality of Baén.
Today, it is a farmhouse with barns and the chapel of Sant Roc, where one family lives, but in the Middle Ages it was a settlement known as “Cases Velles”, abandoned around the 14th–15th centuries. This hamlet, of which only a few remains survive, lies about 700 metres from the present farmhouse, on the summit of a hill on Sarroca peak, strategically controlling the old route linking Pallars with Urgell. Today, the remains of a wall enclosing the whole complex can still be seen, and inside it some dwellings can be identified. Among the remains, notable both for its solidity and its position, is a rectangular structure measuring about 15 m by 20 m, with walls 90 cm thick, together with a square tower on the upper terrace, which very likely corresponds to the old castle of Sarroca. The first historical references we have to this castle date from the late 11th century; by the late 12th century it belonged to Viscount Pere de Vilamur, and at the beginning of the 13th century he sold the castle and the village of Sarroca to the monastery of Gerri.