The secret of the plants of the Pyrenees

Vall de Boí: The Origin of Everything

 

The Pyrenees, like all large mountain chains, kept the majority of its secrets tucked away for centuries.

The isolation of the area obliged it to be self-sufficient, also carrying over into the area of health and healthcare. Nature, rich in varieties of plants, provided most of the means necessary for survival, or to mitigate the effects of illnesses and pain. Mostly it was women who transmitted their knowledge orally to later generations, although the immense power of the church led many to be accused of witchcraft and condemned to be burnt at the stake.

Ana Sirvent, a lover of ethnobotany, has recovered incredible uses of flowers and plants one by one, by speaking with the most elderly people in the area, mainly women, who remembered how their grandmother or great-grandmother made effective and surprising natural remedies.