5/5 Made in D. 1 year ago on Google • 728 reviews
Pou
de
Glaç
de
Buscastell
is
located
in
Maçanet
de
la
Selva,
the
only
village
in
the
plain
of
Selva
where
there
is
evidence
of
the
existence
of
ice
wells.
It
is
considered
the
largest
covered
well
in
the
whole
country.
Humans
have
used
ice
and
snow
since
ancient
times.
The
Greek
and
Roman
cultures
emphasized
its
virtues
for
preserving
food
and
for
refreshing
drinks,
and
the
applications
in
medicine
were
widely
transmitted
by
Muslim
doctors.
In
the
middle
of
the
16th
century,
books
by
doctors
were
published
in
some
cities
of
the
Iberian
Peninsula
that
defended
the
virtues
of
using
snow
in
numerous
applications:
as
an
anti-inflammatory,
to
stop
bleeding,
in
case
of
fevers,
burns,
headache,
stomach
diseases,
eye
diseases
and
even
to
fight
the
plague.
The
spread
of
these
works
extended
their
consumption
in
urban
areas.
The
snow
and
ice
trade
in
Catalonia
was
of
great
importance
and
the
16th-17th
centuries,
and
especially
the
18th,
were
crucial
for
its
development,
becoming
a
big
business;
in
1765,
there
were
fifteen
wells
in
the
Montseny
area
alone.
Their
installation
was
often
a
concession
from
the
lord
of
the
area
to
families
with
economic,
social
and
political
power
and
was
placed
under
the
supervision
of
a
commissar-inspector
who
controlled
the
production
and
the
payment
of
the
corresponding
taxes.
This
new
industry
became
a
very
important
economic
supplement
to
their
agricultural
activity
for
many
farmers
and
was
also
influential
in
other
trades,
such
as
day
laborers
who
participated
in
the
work
of
hoeing
and
hoeing
and
porters.
The
abandonment
of
the
wells
from
the
middle
of
the
19th
century
was
due
to
the
appearance
of
technology
(electricity)
that
allowed
the
industrial
manufacture
of
ice.
3 people found this review helpful 👍