The castle of Besora (El castell de Besora) is located in Navès (Solsonès) documented since 982 and declared a cultural asset of national interest. It was built at the top of a range in the Vall de Lord between Navès and the Sierra de Busa, Lleida province, Catalonia, Spain. From the castle, located at an altitude of 840 m, we can see a good part of the lower Solsonès and beyond. For example, there is a good visual connection with Castellvell de Solsona.
Description
It is a building of three medieval rectangular parts, in the form of an elongated tower, on a rocky hill, with walls of protection, repurposed as a farmhouse. The current building has a total length of about 20 m and a width of about 6 m. The height oscillates between 8 and 11 m. Three elements can be observed. First construction is the rectangular tower located at the north end, it has a width of 4.9 m and a length of 6.5 m. At the southern end there is another tower, also rectangular and perhaps contemporary of the first one, with a length of 6 m and a width of 4.9 m. The third construction is the nexus of the two aforementioned towers, it measures 10 m by 6 m. The construction body of the whole castle is made of well cut and squared ashlars, that are of similar size: about 20-25 cm high by 35-40 cm in length.
History
The Solsonès, a border land, was organized according to castles territories. Thus, on the folds of the Busa and Querol mountain ranges, the three main castles, that along with other small ones, controlled access to the valleys of the Aigua d’Ora river, the Cardener river and the Lladurs stream, were Castells de Navès, (968), Besora (982) and Lladurs. Therefore, Besora was one of the castles of the Christian border during the Muslim occupation. At the end of the 9th century, Guifré el Pilós established positions in Cardona, Osona, Berguedà and the Vall de Lord. The border of the county passed through the north of Solsona surely through the terrain of Besora.
The Besora site is mentioned in the consecration record of the Seu d’Urgell Cathedral from the 9th century. According to Joan Coromines, this is one of few Solsonès toponyms of Basque origin (Proto-Basque). Already in the year 982, a “chastro Besora”, located in the county of Urgell, was mentioned in a document. In 1128, Pere de Besora was the lord of the castle and with his wife Berenguera they established a farmhouse there, that same year.
The last of the lords of the house of Besora was Berenguer who established in his will, in 1273, that the castle of Besora and the fiefs he had in the valley of Lord and Clariana were to be sold by his executors. In 1312, we find that Ramon de Jorba sold the castles of Besora and Navès to the pabrode of Solsona. The fortification of Besora, along with many others, is included in the county of Cardona, created in 1375.
