El Mallol

The place name Mallol or Maiol did not appear until 1176 and it might come from the maioles, young vineyards, which are no longer grown in the county. El Mallol is a strategically located village, on top of a hill, from where the whole valley can be admired. There was a castle, of which the first references date from 1204, was home to the viscounts of Bas and, according to the evidence found, it was extremely fortified by a great wall. The village was the administrative centre of the viscountcy of Bas. The earthquake of the 15th century damaged the castle and, nowadays, there are only a few stones left. The present chuch, built after the earthquake in 1427 and dedicated to Saint Bartholomew is located in the same place where the old Sant Just chapel had previously been. Nowadays, the Veguer house, the prison and the notary's home, which was in use until the 20th century, are places of particular interest. A legend tells that many years ago there was a witch in El Mallol called Estruga Maigarda. It is said that she was married to Bernat de Bellsolà, a member of the wealthiest families in town. Estruga was accused of witchcraft and was prosecuted in Bas, between August 1st and 3rd1373. She was accused of having used withcraft 14 years before. She was accused of casting a spell on marriages in exchange of money. She was also thought to have powers over fecundity. Durint the trial, a woman called Elisenda de Mas Isern declared that the witch had left her infertile and so her husband got bored of her. According to her, she had visited the witch many times and had spent a lot of money, but she did not offer her a solution. Finally, Maigarda was prosecuted and convicted, although we do not know what the final sentence was. From this legend comes the following saying, which talks about the witches in La Mallol and Sant Privat. "De bruixes al Mallol, n'hi ha un vol. De bruixes a Sant Privat, n'hi ha un cabassat".