Salto de Roldán
42°15′12″N 0°22′36″W / 42.25333°N 0.37667°W Salto de Roldán (English: 'Roland's Leap') is a rock formation about 25 km (20 mi) north of Huesca in High Aragon, northern Spain, in the foothills of the central Pyrenees. It lies in the westernmost part of Sierra y Cañones de Guara Natural Park. It consists of several large outcrops of almost bare rock standing clear of the surrounding landscape.
Description
Salto de Roldán includes two main rocky outcrops: Peña San Miguel (sometimes Sen; English: '
Salto de Roldán is what remains of a
French Pyrenean explorer, photographer and writer
Salto de Roldán is a visitor attraction, with foot access from a nearby road. It is possible to climb to the top of Peña San Miguel; though this involves negotiating two ladders made of metal staples driven into the rock, which are not for the faint of heart. On top, there are the ruins of a mediaeval fortress, of a cistern, and of a Romanesque-style hermitage of St Michael. The site is a protected monument.[7][8][9] The view is spectacular.[1][3][4]
Vegetation around Salto de Roldán includes flowers such as
A wide variety of bird species can be seen on and around Salto de Roldán.
History
There is evidence of prehistoric occupation close by. Near the village of Santa Eulalia de la Peña is the cave shelter of La Raja (which is not easily accessible because the path is heavily overgrown). It contains a cave painting which depicts a figure of Levantine type surrounded by bovids, deer and goats, which several experts consider the westernmost outpost of Levantine art. It has been suggested that prehistoric man made summer hunting camps near the Salto de Roldán. Also close by, there is a dolmen (megalithic tomb) at Belsué.
There was a
Legends
There are several legends associated with the site.
In the main legend,
(According to the scanty historical record, Roland died in 778 commanding the rearguard of Charlemagne's army at the
There are several other legends, which do not involve Roland at all. In one of those, St Martin leapt from one of the rocks to the nearby Hermitage of St Martin of Bal d'Onsera to escape persecution. In another, St Martin and St Michael were on the top of Peña de San Miguel, mounted on a horse and an ox respectively. Only St Martin was able to make the leap; which is why that crag is named after St Michael, who had had to stay behind. In another, the Devil himself, riding an infernal horse, leapt the chasm. A legend of a different kind altogether has a gigantic spider squatting to span the crags and spinning her silk down into the abyss.[3]
In more recent times, Salto de Roldán was said to have been a meeting-place for witches called almetas. During winter nights, especially on Fridays, or on Easter Day, they would fly to Peña de San Miguel to prepare their misdeeds; and men would try to shoot them out of the air using shotguns loaded with wax pellets which had been blessed by a priest. In still another legend, Patetas (a local name for the Devil) would pass by on stormy nights, leaving smouldering footprints behind him.[4]
Both the modern Coat of Arms of Huesca (es) (which date from the 16th century) and its mediaeval predecessor (from the 13th) include at their top the device of a block having a V-shaped notch. It is commonly said that it symbolises Salto de Roldán.[4][13][15][f] Some writers have suggested that the official Spanish name of Huesca (Catalan: Osca) derives from a Latin, Basque and Catalan word osca, meaning notch or indentation, referring to the Salto de Roldán.[4]
Notes
- ^ The discrepancy can be explained by looking at photographs: the landscape is very irregular, and the height of the crags above it will depend on from where the estimate is made.
- ^ This height has been taken from the corresponding article in Catalan Wikipedia, and is unsourced.
- dove. The name Palomeras may perhaps derive from a supposed resemblance of the gorge to a dovecote, or because doves lived there.
- ^ There are several plants whose Spanish common name is farolito, and it is unclear which one this is.
- ^ Unidentified; abejeta is in neither Spanish Wikipedia nor Spanish Wiktionary. Possibly a local name for bee orchid (Spanish: orquídea abeja; abeja means 'bee').
- heraldic chargelike it.
References
- ^ a b c d e "Parque Natural de la Sierra y Cañones de Guara | Sendero S-9: Salto de Roldán—Peña San Miguel" (PDF). rednaturaldearagon.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 10 August 2019.
- ^ a b "El Salto de Roldán". descubrehuesca.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 10 August 2019.
- ^ a b c d e f Navarro, José Miguel; Ortega, Miguel. "Salto de Roldán". piedras-sagradas.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 10 August 2019.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Alagón, Alejandro. "Leyendas asociadas al Salto de Roldán". academia.edu (in Spanish). Retrieved 12 August 2019.
- ^ a b c "Trail 3: Salto de Roldán". prepyr365.com. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
- ^ a b c "The Salto de Roldán". hoyadehuesca.es. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
- ^ "Castillo de Sen". patrimonioculturaldearagon.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 22 August 2019.
- ^ "Castillo de Sen / Castillo de la Peña de San Miguel". castillosnet.org (in Spanish). Retrieved 22 August 2019.
- ^ García Omedes, A. "Santa Eulalia la menor | Conjunto religioso-militar e iglesia de san Miguel". romanicoaragones.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 22 August 2019.
- ^ a b "Salto Roldán". guara.org. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
- ^ Martínez Díez, Gonzalo (2005). El condado de Castilla, 711-1038: la historia frente a la la leyenda, 2. Madrid: Marcial Pons Historia. pp. 371-2 (in Spanish). ISBN 9788495379948.
- ^ a b c Tomeo, Javier (4 May 2002). "El increíble salto de Roldán y su caballo". El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 10 August 2019.
- ^ a b c d Pacheu Grau, David. "Tradicions Oscenses: Salto del Roldan". eloscense.com (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 25 December 2010. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
- ^ a b c d Díaz, María (25 November 2011). "Leyendas de Huesca: El Salto de Roldán". clubrural.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 10 August 2019.
- ^ "El Escudo de Huesca". altoaragon.org (in Spanish). Retrieved 11 August 2019.
Further reading
- Briet, Lucien (1909). Les gorges du Flumen et le Salto de Roldan (in French). Bagnères-de-Bigorre: D. Bérot. By Lucien Briet ; said to be a very rare book.
- Martínez Díez, Gonzalo (2005). El Condado de Castilla (711-1038): la historia frente a la leyenda (in Spanish). ISBN 9788495379948. By Gonzalo Martínez Diez].
- Alagón, Alejandro (10 August 2013). "Curiosidades del Salto de Roldán" (PDF). diariodelaltoaragon.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 12 August 2019. An abridged version of the citation "Leyendas asociadas al Salto de Roldán" by Alagón used in the main text.