Montseny () is a mountain range west of the
coastal hills north of
Barcelona
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
. It is part of the
Catalan Pre-Coastal Range.
Features
The Montseny massif is located within a triangle formed by the
AP-7, C-17 and C-25 roads. It has the highest mountains in the area south of the
Pyrenees
The Pyrenees (; es, Pirineos ; french: Pyrénées ; ca, Pirineu ; eu, Pirinioak ; oc, Pirenèus ; an, Pirineus) is a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. It extends nearly from its union with the Cantabrian Mountains to ...
and dominates the plains south of
Girona
Girona (officially and in Catalan , Spanish: ''Gerona'' ) is a city in northern Catalonia, Spain, at the confluence of the Ter, Onyar, Galligants, and Güell rivers. The city had an official population of 103,369 in 2020. Girona is the capital ...
. To the south lies the plateau of La Calma. In between is the Valley of the
Tordera River.
The highest peaks are
Turó de l'Home
Turó de l'Home is a mountain of Catalonia, part of the Montseny Massif. With its elevation of above sea level, it is the highest peak of the Montseny Massif.
The top of the mountain is a triangulation station. (On the image on the right, this st ...
(1,712 m),
Les Agudes
Les Agudes is a mountain of Catalonia, Spain. It has an elevation of 1,706 metres above sea level. It is straddling the municipalities of Arbúcies in the Selva ''comarca'' and Fogars de Montclús and Montseny in the Vallès Oriental.
The wo ...
(1,703 m), El
Matagalls (1,697 m) and
Puig Drau (1,344 m).
There are a large number of
megalithic structures in the massif, such as
menhir
A menhir (from Brittonic languages: ''maen'' or ''men'', "stone" and ''hir'' or ''hîr'', "long"), standing stone, orthostat, or lith is a large human-made upright stone, typically dating from the European middle Bronze Age. They can be found ...
s, indicating that the area was inhabited since very ancient times.
The
Santa Fe Reservoir is located in the area of the range; construction work began in 1920 and was completed in 1935.
Ecology
The Montseny is a
protected area,
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
designated the massif a
biosphere reserve
A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...
in 1978. The
Generalitat of Catalonia regional government designated it a
natural park in 1987, the
Montseny Natural Park ''(Parc Natural del Montseny)''.
The Park is home to a wide variety of fauna from Mediterranean to alpine. The
critically endangered Montseny brook newt is only known from the area of this massif.
References
External links
*
Tourisme-montseny.com
Biosphere reserves of Spain
Natural parks of Catalonia
Protected areas established in 1978
Mountains of Catalonia
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