Gallifa: Rocky Landscape, Views and Romanesque History

Gallifa is a rugged municipality consisting essentially of a valley between the cliffs of Sant Sadurní – the western end of the Cingles de Bertí – and Mount Farell.

Nature and Views

The protected Gallifa Nature Area forms a large rock massif representative of the calcareous coastal foothill ranges. The erosion of sandstone and conglomerate has created cliffs with rounded blocks. Notable cliff-nesting birds of prey found in Gallifa include the Eurasian eagle-owl (Bubo bubo). Despite Gallifa's small size, the nature area has remarkable biodiversity thanks to its rocky habitats and lush Mediterranean vegetation.

The Mirador de la Guineu viewpoint next to the Sant Sadurní hermitage offers views of the Pre-Pyrenees, Moià, Centelles and Puigsagordi, Sant Feliu de Codines, Vallès, La Mola de Sant Llorenç del Munt and Montserrat. The Sant Sadurní hermitage stands at an altitude of 951 m at the highest and also most rugged point of the mountain. From there, a broad panorama extends over large parts of the country, from the high mountains to the sea.

Culture and History

Gallifa Castle has been documented since 999 and originally belonged to the House of Barcelona. Today, only parts of the walls that enclosed the summit remain; the summit is also home to the Santa Maria chapel and the remains of other buildings. Santa Maria del Castell is a Romanesque hermitage documented in 1060. Since its restoration in 1986, the church has been dedicated to the Virgin Mary of Ecology and houses the Gallifa Ecological Sanctuary.

The Sant Sadurní chapel is a single-nave building with an apse. Sant Sadurní Castle had a stone wall that was approximately 70 cm thick on average and reached up to 2 m in height in some places. Mare de Déu del Grau is a 13th-century church with a rectangular single-nave floor plan and a semicircular apse.

The parish church of Sant Pere i Sant Feliu is a Romanesque single-nave building with a stone barrel vault and a roof made of Arabic tiles. It was first documented in 1060 and consecrated between 1140 and 1180, when Bernat de Rocafort was lord of Gallifa.

Routes and Workshops

A hiking or mountain-biking route connects the municipality of Gallifa with Castellar del Vallès. Another hiking or mountain-biking route connects Gallifa with Caldes de Montbui. One hiking route leads around Sant Sadurní de Gallifa, while another route leads to the entrance of Gallifa Castle and the Santa Maria del Castell hermitage.

The Mare de Déu del Grau hermitage has an area suitable for games and picnics. The Fundació Josep Llorens Artigas offers guided tours of its workshops, traditional wood-fired kilns, 18th-century farmhouse and exhibition space. Estudi YAMA is a ceramics workshop at the Fundació Artigas, open to anyone who wants to start working with ceramics or explore their creativity with their hands.

Connections

The demand-responsive bus service on line 254 connects Gallifa with Sant Feliu de Codines and Caldes de Montbui and can be booked on Tuesdays and Thursdays via the “Sagalés On Demand” app. The Gallifa stop for line 254 is called “5914 - Crtra. de St. Feliu - Raval” and is located at the roundabout on the BP-1241 access road.

Further destinations include: Sant Cebrià De Vallalta, Sallent, Sant Cugat Del Vallès, Premià De Mar, Santa Margarida de Montbui, Sentmenat, Alpens and Rupit.

To the main travel overview: Barcelona.