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In Las Fotos de los Lectores de La Vanguardia we echo today the two versions of the legend of the Font dels Ocells, in Torelló, in the region of Osona.
The story has to do with the patron saint of children in this town, Sant Fortià, which also protects Torelló from storms and droughts, although it has not been able to avoid the prolonged period without rain that has been experienced in recent months in Catalonia.
This fountain alluding to the birds is located next to the Font del Raig, right next to the access road to the Santuario de la Virgen de Rocaprevera.
According to legend, devotion to Sant Fortià dates back to the time of the Crusades. In 1290 a group of men from Torelló left to fight in the Holy Land, from where they returned victorious in 1298.
One version of the story explains that the crusaders brought a cedar urn with the relics of Sant Fortià's body, which were deposited in the church of Sant Feliu.
Another version says that the relics of Sant Fortià were taken to Torelló not by these crusaders, but by a white dove, which left the urn next to Rocaprevera, where we find the Font dels Ocells.
Once the dove left the urn, the bells of Rocaprevera rang until the priest and other clerics discovered the urn. Apparently, a farmer, upon seeing the pigeon, wanted to hunt it, but when he tried, he was blinded by a light that protected the bird.
