IN SEARCH OF THE HOLY GRAIL: ROUTE OF THE CATHARS AND MAGICAL CATALONIA

The Cathars have been used as a tourist attraction, however, there is a slight step between reality and fantasy.

For example, the novels in Meter Berlina relate the Cathars to the search for the Holy Grail and mix literary myth with reality.

Some castles even date from a later period than the mythical heretics, with the exception of the castles of Montsegur and Quéribus.

Another curious fact is the erroneous attribution of the discoidal stelae, funerary monuments crowned by a stone disc, which are distributed throughout Occitania, since, in these discs, there is often a sculpted cross, a symbol that the Cathars refused since it was the instrument of torture of Jesus Christ, therefore, it could not have been Cathar.

The Alt Empordà region encompasses everything from the telluric and majestic Cap de Creus, to the Escala along the Costa Brava, passing through the Natural Park of Aiguamolls de l’Empordà and the Albera area in the north. Not forgetting all the small, old towns with cobbled streets. A history that goes from the megalithic era to the Phoenicians, Greeks and Romans through the Middle Ages to the present day, Catalonia has a past with a very long list of towns with magical traditions.

The town of Llers is considered an important witchcraft enclave and thanks to the work of Carles Fages, its witches became popular throughout Catalonia.

We’ll start the route in the town of Llers, just 15 km from Figueres.

In 1924 a book by Carles Faget de Climent was published with illustrations by Dalí, “Witchcraft in Catalonia” It is popular belief that they met near La Font de l’Hortal, located on the road from Llers to Tarradas.