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In La Vanguardia Readers' Photos today we recommend two sanctuaries from which you can see the seas of fog this winter. Catalonia has several ideal observation points for this meteorological phenomenon, but Queralt and Bellmunt are, without a doubt, among the best.
The sanctuary of Queralt offers splendid views of the seas of fog over the Llobregat valley and the Berguedà region. It is located on the eastern slope of the Castellberguedà hill, top of the Sierra de Queralt, at an altitude of 1200 meters.
The place where the sanctuary stands today corresponds, it seems, to the space that would have been occupied by the castle of the troubadour Guillem de Berguedà. And the primitive sanctuary was built in 1386 by the Berguedà merchant Francesc Garreta.
The current church is a building built in the 18th century, in Renaissance style, and is made up of a central nave with two lateral ones. The Queralt complex is made up of the sanctuary where the image of the Virgin of Queralt is venerated and an annex building that once housed the Hospedería, where today the restaurant and the funicular station are located.
The church of La Cueva is also considered part of the sanctuary, where, according to legend, a shepherd from Vilaformiu found the image of the Virgin in the 14th century.
In these photographs captured from the Bellmunt sanctuary, the seas of fog in the Osona region stand out, as well as the perspectives of Montserrat, the Pedraforca (fantastic colored white) and the Pubilla in La Plana making themselves noticeable covering the landscape.
In some areas of Osona, the fog or Pubilla de la Plana de Vic is also known as "baixa joke", because the sea of low fog covers the entire landscape. The Osona region is the place in Spain with the most days of fog (a hundred) a year.
The phenomenon of the Pubilla de la Plana, which can be accompanied by frost especially in winter, can last for days and even weeks if the conditions are favorable.
In this case it can be seen from the Bellmunt sanctuary, at 1246 meters above sea level, from where the landscape of the Plana de Vic is dominated. From the sanctuary you can also see, if the fog does not prevent it, a series of mountain ranges, such as, to the north, the Rasos de Peguera massif, the Cadí mountain range and the peaks of Pedraforca and Puigmal.
