Beneath the streets of the old city lies one of the best-preserved medieval mikvehs — Jewish ritual baths — in Spain. It was discovered in 1964 and carefully restored, and it survives as a moving reminder of the significant Jewish community that lived in Besalú through the Middle Ages.
The community was destroyed in the pogroms of 1391, when Jewish quarters across Catalonia were attacked and their inhabitants killed, expelled, or forced to convert. The mikveh outlasted them, sealed underground until its rediscovery.
Access is by guided visit only; tickets are available at the tourist office in the old town. The space is small, but the guided explanation — the cistern, the descending steps, the ritual purpose — makes it one of the most memorable fifteen minutes in Besalú.