Village
Serinyà is a municipality in the comarca of the Pla de l'Estany, in the province of Gerona, situated on the border with the Garrocha, famous for the caves with prehistoric Upper Palaeolithic sites found within its territory, among them Reclau Viver, inhabited more than 200,000 years ago by Homo heidelbergensis and, later, by Homo neanderthalensis, making it one of the most important sites in Europe. The caves, which were also a refuge in the Neolithic and a burial place in the Bronze Age, are today protected by the Parc de les Coves Prehistòriques de Serinyà. The municipality has 1,228 inhabitants.
Monument
A castle also called Taià, documented since the year 957, when its lords took part in a noble revolt against count Guifré II of Besalú, who died in the fighting; his brothers avenged his death by confiscating the castle. Today only a stretch of wall and a rectangular tower survive, attached to the mas Can Parella farmhouse.
Nature
A group of caves with human occupation from the Middle Palaeolithic to the Bronze Age, one of the most important prehistoric sites in Catalonia. It comprises the Cova de l'Arbreda, Mollet I and Reclau Viver, all open to the public, together with others such as Mollet II, Mollet III, Cova d'en Pau, Arbreda II and Cau del Roure, formed by the deposition of travertine and its later dissolution. They provided shelter for animals, for Neanderthals and for modern humans, and were used for burials in the Neolithic. Excavations, begun by Josep Maria Corominas, have uncovered remains from the Middle Palaeolithic (250,000 years ago) and the Upper Palaeolithic (between 40,000 and 9,000 years ago). The complex, a bien cultural de interés nacional (Catalonia's highest level of heritage protection), is today part of the Parc de les Coves de Serinyà.
Monument
Fortified farmhouse of the 15th-16th centuries, also known as Can Genover after the name of its current owners, with two towers at opposite corners - a square one to the east and a low circular one to the west, the latter converted into a chapel of Santa Anna, with an image of the saint probably dating from the 17th century -, and openings with Gothic and Renaissance decoration, several of whose lintels bear inscriptions. It preserves other defensive features, such as arrow slits, and forms a complex with several adjoining farmhand's dwellings, one badly deteriorated and the other restored. It was restored and enlarged in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Monument
16th-century tower situated in the hamlet of Bosquerons, in the municipality of Serinyà, in the Pla de l'Estany, declared a Bien Cultural de Interés Nacional (Catalonia's highest level of heritage protection). Of square plan and three storeys, with a gabled roof, it stands on a rocky outcrop and is built of ashlar stone; the stones of the ground floor appear older than those above, probably due to later rebuilding. It preserves an arrow slit on its south face, and has an attached farmhouse of rectangular plan, also of three storeys, with a gabled roof and unremarkable architectural features; the entrance door, with a lintel and imposts of reused sandstone, opens onto the south façade.
Monument
Romanesque parish church from the 12th century, located in the middle of a wide square in the centre of Serinyà, dedicated to Saint Andrew and already documented in 1182. In 1364 Queen Elionor sold it to Ponç de Canadal, abbot of Banyoles, and in 1795 it was sacked by French troops; a processional cross of note is preserved inside. The building, rectangular in plan with a single nave covered by a pointed vault, retains a semicircular apse with a quarter-sphere vault and a main façade with a portal of stepped archivolts, crowned by a moulded stone cornice; the square bell tower is of later construction. It was built with travertine stone from Espolla.
Nature
The middle stretch of the River Fluvià, one of the best-preserved rivers in Catalonia because it has no large reservoirs, which crosses the municipal districts of Serinyà, Crespià, Esponellà and Vilademuls.
Activity
The Homenatge a la Vellesa (Tribute to Old Age) of Serinyà, in the Pla de l'Estany, forms part of the village's Festa del Roser, celebrated on the second Sunday of May and already numbering more than a hundred editions, making it one of the oldest celebrations of its kind in Catalonia, considered the second oldest of its type. During the day, pupils from the local infant and primary schools perform traditional dances in tribute to the elderly, an act that remains, as tradition dictates, the core of the festival.
Nature
The Parc de les Coves Prehistòriques de Serinyà protects a group of Middle and Upper Palaeolithic sites, discovered in the mid-20th century and declared a Bien Cultural de Interés Nacional (Catalonia's highest level of heritage protection). It comprises, among other cavities, the cova de l'Arbreda, Mollet I and the cova del Reclau Viver, open to the public, formed by the deposition of travertine from the calcium carbonate in the water and by the processes that later dissolved it. Its chronology spans from the Middle Palaeolithic (250,000 years ago) and Upper Palaeolithic (40,000–9,000 years ago) through to the Neolithic and the Bronze Age: they served as shelter for Neanderthals and modern humans, and later as a burial site. The excavations were begun by Josep Maria Corominas. Today the cova del Reclau Viver, the cova de l'Arbreda and the cova de Mollet can be visited.
Historical milestone
The physician and archaeologist Josep Maria Corominas began in 1944 to excavate the Reclau Viver and the neighboring cavities, which document human presence from two hundred thousand years ago and the Neanderthal occupation of the pre-Pyrenees.
Historical milestone
The comarcal council of the Pla de l'Estany turned into a museum in 1997 the surroundings of the Reclau Viver and the cova de l'Arbreda and opened to the public an archaeological park that continues to be excavated by the Universitat de Girona.