The best cycling routes around Fonollosa

Recreation area with picnic area and spectacular views of Montserrat

The Cave of Saint Ignatius is one of Manresa's most emblematic sites, a sanctuary commemorating Ignatius of Loyola's stay during his spiritual retreat. The grotto, now a chapel, is notable for its alabaster reliefs and the traditional markings attributed to the saint, while the complex includes a Baroque church and a Neoclassical convent that enhance the visit. It is the final destination for those following the Ignatian Way.

The Old Bridge of Manresa (Pont Vell) is one of the city's most emblematic monuments and forms part of its most distinctive skyline, along with the Basilica of La Seu and the Cave of Saint Ignatius. Of Roman origin, the current structure is a faithful reconstruction of a 12th-century medieval bridge. It was destroyed in 1939 during the Civil War and rebuilt between 1960 and 1962 by architect J. Pons Sorolla.

I grew up there, long before the observatory and the archaeological works at the Castle. When we were little, it seemed to us that the idea that there was a castle behind the church was a chimera. When it was brought to light, it seemed like magic.

A carved fountain consisting of a semi-buried body framed by a large arch, which creates a small elliptical apse, at the midpoint of which is the fountain. The water falls, from a rectangular niche framed in another with a pointed arch, onto a circular sink with a base. On the side of the fountain there is a bench attached, running. The set is completed with a stone table in the center of the space. This is built with masonry and the ashlars are seen in its entire front part, and inside, up to half height, the curvilinear part of the chapel was plastered. There still remains, at the highest point of the arch, the part of a fastening element from which a chain hangs, and at an even higher point, crowning the set, there is a large piece of stone with the inscription "Girada 1923". Observations: The fountain is located in Monistrolet, in an artificial widening of the road and in a space formed from the fountain itself and small stone walls that follow the lateral profile of the work. It can be reached by the path that comes from Can Servitge passing through the deposits of Can Gallifa or Cisternes de Monistrolet (file 390) and the Font del Rector (file 391), crossing the Riera de Rajadell, or from Monistrolet, skirting Can Gallifa (file 98) along the path that surrounds it to the W., and passing through the Camp de la Girada, cross the Riera de Rajadell through a ford, and from there follow a path in a westerly direction. The fountain is located 700m. in a straight line to the SW of Can Gallifa. The name of the Girada is due to the curve that the Riera de Rajadell makes in this sector. Campaign masses have been celebrated at the site with the stone table as an altar. You can see that the beautiful vault of this fountain is in the shape of an ellipse. This design, apart from having an artistic motif, also gives it a surprising acoustic property. If we look for the two foci of this ellipse and place a person in the area near each of them, they will hear the other person's voice clearly amplified and with an enveloping effect. From an area close to the focus, such as the beginning of the stone benches, we can also hear the effect.

The Font de l’Arrel is located next to the torrent de l’Infern –or Vallformosa or Servitge-, very shortly before the confluence with the Rajadell stream, upstream of the Suanya. A path that leaves the asphalt road that goes to the Servitge urbanization, when it crosses the viaduct of the C-37 road above it, crosses the shady slope populated by oaks and black maples, visits the Font de l’Arrel, crosses the Torrent de l’Infern and continues along the right bank of the Rajadell stream towards the Gorg Blau. The itinerary “M2 – La riera de Rajadell” of the Anella Verda de Manresa passes by the Font de l’Arrel. The fountain is well maintained and has a space in front for rest or meeting, shaded by a large oak and some plane trees. The stream of water falls into a stone basin covered with hepatica thallus and capillaries that give it charm. The flow is rather scarce, but only very exceptionally does the spring dry up completely.

Pont Vell de Manresa, crosses the Cardener river and connects the old Abrera road and Rodalies station with the Santuari de Sant Ignasi and the Old quarter.

Space to relax and look towards Montserrat