The castle of Peratallada has always had the reputation of being impregnable. The surrounding land, spongy and floodable, has acted as a natural defense of the fortress, since the enemies, unfamiliar with the terrain, often ended up sunk in a wetland. The castle, on the other hand, is built on a rock so hard that it is said that when the men dug into the stone to make the foundations of the building, the blows they had to give off sparks that burned their skin.Legend has it that the castle had numerous subway passages leading to a nearby forest, so that if the building was besieged, its inhabitants could escape.

Legend has it that the castle had numerous subway passages leading to a nearby forest, so that if the building was besieged, its inhabitants could escape.One day, a local farmer passing through the forest came across a slab with a large ring on it. He pulled on it and, with great effort, managed to lift it. He then entered the passageways and discovered a large load of beans stored inside. In those years of misfortune and hunger, the peasant took as many as he could, but when he was filling his clothes, the castle guards discovered him. The man fled in a hurry and ran out of the hole, running so fast that he lost all his load along the way. When he got home, sad that he had lost the beans, he took off his clothes and heard something falling on the ground. When he bent down to see what it was, he saw that it was a golden bean. The man, excited, went back into the forest to look for the entrance to the passageway, but did not find it.The farmer searched and searched, but he could never again find the slab with the ring that hid that great secret.

Extracted from La màgia del Baix Empordà, by Montserrat Vayreda.