The settlement of Montflacó Muratllat is located in the municipality of Les Oluges, in the comarca (local district) of La Segarra (Lleida Plain), where it stands high up on a hill. This hamlet is the best example of an enclosed medieval settlement in Catalonia. It has conserved its perimeter wall and the tightly packed houses inside it and there are no buildings outside the settlement walls. These stone walls, which rise up high on top of the hill, seem to embody a show of historic determination never to lose!
 

Settlement

Access to Montfalcó Muratllat is provided by an entrance located on the south side of the settlement. This takes the form of a double door with voussoir arches, which gives onto a central square with a water tank that even to this day serves as the main deposit for the water of the settlement. Two roads lead off from the square: the one to the right leads to the church, while the other follows the course of the outer wall. Inside the settlement there are also more recently constructed buildings dating from the 17th and 18th centuries.

In the first period of construction, the enclosed area was formed by a walled nucleus with a circular tower to the east and a square tower in the centre of the fortification, which now forms part of the main building in the square. In a second period, a square tower was added, just in front of the first entry gate, creating a double portal set at right angles. The third period of construction provided the settlement with a second wall on its south side. In both the medieval and modern periods, the outer part of the walls was surrounded by cultivated land. The lands nearest the settlement grew market garden products and produced animal fodder. A second belt of crop lands was dedicated to the production of cereals and grapes, while the lands furthest from the settlement were left as woods and pastures.

Origins

The first references to Montfalcó Muratllat (La Segarra – Lleida Plain) date from the 11th century: during the reign of the Bernat I, Count of Berga, when this strip of territory that had previously been controlled by the Saracens was resettled. These repopulated lands, which were located along the frontier with the territories controlled by the Muslims, were known as the Marches of a Segarra. It is therefore possible that the hill had previously been the site of an Islamic fortress, though there are no remains to support this theory.

The feudal castle of Montfalcó was mentioned in the year 1043, when it was referred to as Monte Falconi. At that time, the fortress and enclosed settlement must already have become one and the same. In the Lower Middle Ages, Montfalcó passed into the possession of Isabel de Tarroja, the wife of Ramon Folc VIII of Cardona. As a result, Montfalcó became part of the Earldom of Cardona in 1375, which explains why the settlement is also known as Montfalcó del Duc. The house of Cardona was later untied with that of Medinaceli and Montfalcó, to which its possessions belonged until the disentailment of the 19th century.

In 1301, the castle of Montfalcó, then under the power of Ramon Folc VI, was besieged for five weeks by the forces of Jaume II. The cause of this conflict was a dispute between the king and the feudal oligarchs related with economic questions. During the Catalan Civil War, fought between King Joan II and the Generalitat de Catalunya (1462-1472), Montfalcó was one of the most important fortresses in the Sió river basin, proving impregnable on account of the quality of its walls.
In another war, that of the Segadors (Reapers War of 1640-1659), this fortress served as a refuge for Catalan and French forces retreating from Cervera.

Church of Sant Pere de Montfalcó

The church of Montfalcó was founded in the middle of the 11th century by Count Bernat of Berga. The original Romanesque church was built in the easternmost part of the fortification, taking advantage of a circular defence tower to construct the apse. The building has been reformed and rebuilt on numerous occasions in the course of its history, but the most significant transformation was carried out between the 17th and 18th centuries, when the side chapels were built onto the outer defence walls, the choir was built onto the end of the church and the bell tower was added. At this time, a baroque style altarpiece, of which only a single painted board now remains, was also added to the interior. In the modern church, only the apse and main door remain from the original Romanesque building.
 

The legend

According to legend, in the Middle Ages, which was a turbulent time and one of frequent quarrels amongst rival nobles and between the nobility and the king, a disputes saw one belligerent group attack Montfalcó, which was where members of a rival band were either living or had been offered protection.

After numerous bloody battles, the group based at Montfalcó was forced to retreat and sought refuge within the walls of the settlement. Once there, they mounted such a fierce defence of Montfalcó that their rivals, who had previously beaten them out in open territory, were unable to set foot within the enclosure. Each time that the successive waves of attack fell on the fortress, the only result was that the number of casualties amongst the attacking forces increased, while Montfalcó remained unassailable. The leader of the attacking force therefore decided to seek victory by establishing a rigorous siege and starving his opponents into surrender. Time passed, but as Montfalcó still did not surrender; the besieging forces decided to try a new tactic: they sought to cause the defenders to fight amongst themselves, as El Cid had done with so much success in Valencia. Using the same tactics, the catapults of the besiegers began to launch messages inciting the people to rebel against their leaders and, as in the case of El Cid, these messages were tied to pieces of bread. They thought that the besieged forces would be suffering from hunger and that the sight of recently made bread would lead them to surrender. The reply from the defenders of Montfalcó was not, however, what had been expected and the catapults within the fortress began to fire rival messages into the enemy camp, tied to fresh fish! As a result, it was the besieging forces who suffered a loss of morale and soon lifted the siege. According to legend, it seems that there was a tunnel (the people of Montfalcó and Les Oluges refer to it as a “mine”) that ran from Montflacó to Les Oluges and from there to the watchtower that stands to the west of the settlement. This route was called the “Molí de Vent” (windmill) passage and was how the inhabitants of Montfalcó were able to obtain their supplies.

Information provided by Sr. Mateu Solé

The Two Valleys Route

Type: MTB
Difficulty: Easy
Total distance: 23.4 km
Start and finish points: Sant Guim de Freixenet

Description:
Between the valleys of the rivers Sió and Freixenet there are two important elements of La Segarra heritage: the Celler Cooperatiu (Cooperative Wine Cellars) of Sant Guim de Freixenet and Montfalcó Murallat (La Segarra – Lleida Plain). The wine cellars, which were designed by Cèsar Martinell, show signs of Gaudí’s influence and were a product of the agricultural development programmes undertaken by the Mancomunitat de Catalunya (1920).

After passing close to the great baroque church of Sant Guim de la Rabassa, the gothic-style manor house of Estaràs and the church of Sant Julià, with its Romanesque-style walls and tombs bearing the coats of arms of the Villalonga family, visitors will finally reach Montfalcó Murallat.

The Two Valleys Route begins on the slopes that take cyclists up from the spurs of the Tossal Magre (781 m) to the valley of the river Freixenet and then northwards, following the high plains that separate the valleys of the rivers Sió and Ondara, through what is an authentic La Segarra landscape, abounding with barley, wheat and almond trees.