The legend of the lake of Engolasters

The Engolasters glacial lake is located at an altitude of 1616 metres in the parish of Encamp (Principality of Andorra). It is a very accessible place that can be reached by car and is ideal for short excursions or visits with children.

In 1934 the lake was dammed and a hydroelectric power station was built on the site, now converted into the Electricity Museum.

The reservoir is surrounded by a lush pine forest that provides shade and adds an even darker tone to its already gloomy waters. In fact, the name Engolasters, which means "engulfing the stars", comes from this. Its waters are so dark that the stars do not reflect in it. Why? Probably because of what happened there, which perhaps it would be better not to remember.

The legend of Engolasters

There are two main versions of what happened here, with their variants. The first of theseThe one we can consider "official" as it appears on the Principality's website, tells of a village swallowed up by the waters because of the daring of its men. Apparently, the witches came up at night to bathe in the lake and some daring men went to spy on them. If one of them was discovered, he was turned into a black cat. Now the peeping toms have nothing to worry about, as the witches left the place with the construction of the dam.

The second versionThe story of the village of Engolasters, which appears in the book "50 magical places in the Pyrenees" by Carlos Ollés Estopiña, is quite different from the first one and also offers an explanation of that village swallowed up by the waters. The story goes that a long time ago a ragged man appeared in the village of Engolasters, wandering through the streets begging for a piece of bread. The villagers, instead of giving him something to satisfy his hunger, reproached him for looking for a job and turned their backs on him. The man went to the bakery and offered to clean the trough. He would eat whatever crumbs he could get out of it. The baker agreed, but when she saw how much the man had managed to get out, she took it away from him. The scene was repeated until finally the man, dejected, left. It was then that he met a young woman in the street who took pity on him and offered him a piece of bread. At that moment our man ordered the girl to leave the village and climb as high as she could reach. At that moment, black clouds as never seen before appeared, which discharged so much water that the village was submerged under the waters, those of the lake of Engolasters, of course. The legend is crowned when the man is uncovered and the girl recognises him. It was Jesus Christ, to make matters worse, who had decided to put the inhabitants of Engolasters to the test.