The origins of the Benedictine
monastery of Sant Pere de Casserres stand half way between
history and
legend. The latter explains that one of the sons of the
viscounts of Osona and
Cardona spoke only three days after being born to announce that he wouldn't live for more than 30 days. Once dead, they had to put his body on a mule that would walk without being guided. At the spot where the mule would stop, a monastery was to be constructed.
The version that speaks about the monastery's
strategic position seems more likely, with the monastery situated in a very pronounced bend of the
Ter river. Previously, it was the site of a
castrum serrae or defence tower. It was a building that the viscounts would decide to convert into a monastery.
Ermetruit, viscountess of Osona, was the monastery's
promoter, the only one from the
Benedictine order in Osona. Construction began in 1005 and, seven years later,
monastic life began; the church was consecrated in 1050.
With the exception of short favourable periods (when the abbey had the support of the local nobility like the lords of
Savassona,
Tavertet and
Sau), the monastery was
marked by misfortune. Only ten years after the consecration of the church, the abbey fell to the category of
priory because it had less than 12 monks and in 1079 Sant Pere de Casserres came to be a "branch" in Catalan lands of the powerful
abbey of Cluny.
Between the 13
th and the 15
th century, Sant Pere de Casserres entered into
decline from famines, wars and epidemics, such as the
Black Plague of 1348. In the 19th century, the monastery passed into
private hands and was used as a farm and tenant housing. The current group is the result of a series of restorations, like those done by Camil Pallàs (1952-1962) and Joan Albert Adell and the County Council of Osona (1994-1998).
The temple is a
compendium of the Romanesque: three naves separated by pillars and crowned by semi-circular
apses. The decorative architectural elements also rigorously follow the "style" of time, with blind arches, toothed friezes and a small cloister with
semi-circular arches supported on columns. The church's interior was completely decorated with
mural paintings, although nowadays only a few very
deteriorated examples remain.
Two elements, escape the canon: on one hand, the church measures
longer in width than length, an uncommon fact in the Catalan Romanesque style. On the other hand, the
bell tower is -unusually low- is no more than two floors in height. Two curiosities of the monastery's exterior must be highlighted: the rectangular shaped building that serves as
hospital and the area where numerous
anthropomorphic tombs are conserved.
Author of the photographs: Josep Giribet.
