The Counts of Catalonia

Castelldefels Castle is perched on a hill at 59 metres above sea level. This monumental ensemble, which lends its name to the town, was built in the 10th century over what had been an Iberian settlement and, later, a Roman villa.

The castle was strategically constructed overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, overlooking a commanding position to control the territory and the coastal strip.

It was used for centuries as a fortress to defend the Eramprunyà barony, and was restored and fortified in the 16th century against attacks by Berber privateers.

Piracy began to fade away in the 18th century, and the castle fell into the hands of several noble families. One name that is closely associated with the fortification is the banker Manuel Girona, who bought and spearheaded the restoration of this iconic city landmark in 1897.

During the 20th century, it was used as a military training centre by the Republican authorities during the Civil War in 1937 and early 1938. Shortly afterwards, the castle and church were converted into a prison for international brigade members in March of the same year. Visitors can see original graffiti by these brigadiers in Santa Maria church in Castelldefels. This 10th-century church is the part of the ensemble that retains the oldest remains, with walls dating from the Iberian, Roman, medieval, modern and contemporary periods.

Both the castle and the church have been declared a Cultural Asset of National Interest.

Another impressive feature is the Fencing Room, which is decorated with 18th century paintings, and the Institutional Room, or the Noble Room, which bore witness to the grand feasts and celebrations attended by the Catalan bourgeoisie at the beginning of the 20th century, and which retains its neo-Gothic décor.

In the valley of Llobregat, next to the municipality of Cercs, stands the church of Sant Quirze de Pedret, one of the few tenth century buildings preserved in Catalonia and one of the best examples of pre-Romanesque architecture in the country. The temple formed part of the county of Berga and was under the jurisdiction of the bishop of Urgell.

It is a three-nave building. The central one corresponds to the original pre-Romanesque church (ninth century), while the naves in the lateral are the result of an enlargement (already Romanesque) of the 10th century. Additionally, the entrance way and bell tower were incorporated but partially collapsed in the 15th century, probably caused by an earthquake.

Sant Quirze de Pedret maintains genuine architectural elements that remind us of its more ancient past and that directly relate it with other pre-Romanesque Catalan buildings like, for example, the churches of Terrassa. These elements are the surpassing and horse shoe arches that we see in the temple's interior, the trapezoidal arch instead of semi-circular, red clay tables instead of slate.  These were the influences of the Caliphate of Cordoba in the Catalan counties.

The restoration of Sant Quirze de Pedret has wanted to recapture the aspect of the church in the tenth century. Following the journey through time, the original aspect of the roof has been restored; lime has been added to the walls and the pavement of the central nave has been covered with clay.

Despite the singularity of the building and its conservation, if there is an outstanding artistic aspect it is the temple's mural paintings, of two differentiated periods. In the central apse of the church of Pedret we see some of the most remote paintings of the Catalan Pyrenees. They date to the 10th century and feature three very defined characters: the psalmist is a man with a beard and tunic who prays with his arms extended, a horseman accompanied by numerous animals, and a cleric. The style and significance of these first paintings resemble Mediterranean Paleochristian works.

The series of Pedret dates to the 11th century and is attributed to the circle of the “Master of Pedret." It is in these pictures that we find the most complex symbolism of the church. Originally situated in the apses of the lateral naves, we identify scenes from the apostolic college headed by Peter, the Virgin Mary and the Baby Jesus, images of saints (Matthew), numerous Latin inscriptions and allusions to the idea of the Final Judgment.

There is, however, a curious scene painted on the walls of Sant Quirze called the “parable of virgins”, which dramatises the sobering chapter of the wise virgins and foolish virgins. The Diocesan and Regional Museum of Solsona and the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya (National Museum of Art of Catalonia) guard the originals, whilst one can see faithful reproductions in the church.
 
Sant Quirze de Pedret is part of the ‘Romanesque weekend: from the Ripollès to Northern Catalonia’ getaway.

At the foot of the Canigó we find the monastery of Sant Miquel de Cuixà that was, along with Ripoll, a powerful religious, political and cultural centre during the Middle Ages.

The birth of the monastery dates to the year 879 and is the result of a disgrace. After a flood destroyed the abbey of Sant Andreu d’Eixalada, the surviving monks resided in a small monastery dedicated to Sant Germà and directed by Father Protasi. As a result of these facts and thanks to the protection of the counts of Cerdanya and Conflent, this small cell became the Monastery of Sant Miquel i Sant Germà de Cuixà, one of the most powerful of the era.

The tenth century marked the consolidation of the monastery: the lands, domains and churches that it depended on grew in a spectacular manner. In the year 956, Garí rebuilt the church of Sant Miquel erected only a few years earlier by Count Sunifred.

The arrival of the abbot Oliba, introducer of Romanesque Lombard style in Catalonia, was an architectural revolution of the monastery. Oliba erected two corridors, three small apses and erected a dome that was supported by pink marble columns and white marble capitals. He also built the circular Nativity Crypt or the Nativity Scene, the chapel of the Trinity and two Lombard bell towers at either side of the crossing (nowadays only one remains).

The cloister was constructed in the 12th century under the order of the abbot Gregori. Made with pink marble and a spectacular sculptural decoration, is one of the largest of the Catalan counties. Nowadays, to follow the tracks of some of these capitals, we have to travel to New York, to the museum called The Cloisters.

Sant Miquel de Cuixà has the honour of being considered the birthplace of the Catalan language. Possibly, the workshop in Cuixà released the celebrated Cançó de Santa Fe (Song of Santa Fe), a hagiographic poem that is considered one of the oldest literary examples in a Romance language, although it is discussed whether it deals with the Occitan or Catalan language.
Amongst the many illustrious names linked to Sant Miquel de Cuixà we find the architect and archaeologist Josep Puig i Cadafalch, in charge of the restoration campaigns for the monastery made in 1938.  Additionally, there is the musician Pau Casals who started the Festival de Música Clàssica de Prada (Prada Classical Music Festival)in 1954.

The Monastery of Sant Miquel de Cuixà is part of the ‘Romanesque weekend: from the Ripollès to Northern Catalonia’ getaway.




Author of the photographs: Josep Renalias.

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.

Constructed during the second half of the 11th century under the command of the counts of Pallars, Ramon V and Valença (daughter of Arnau Mir de Tost), the church of Santa Maria de Mur is an exceptional case of Romanesque canonry in the Catalan territories since, unlike others, it conserves its original structure intact, formed by the church, cloister and dependencies of the canons.

We can classify the church with the Romanesque Lombard for the strips and the blind arches that decorate its exterior. It follows the typical Romanesque pattern, with a basilical layout with three naves oriented to the East and covered by a robust barrel vault. The vault is supported by pillars and transverse arches and the north nave, fallen centuries ago, was redone with three Gothic chapels. Along with the church, the cloister –dating to the 12th century, is one of the jewels of the group. It has a rectangular form and its sides are unequal in the number of columns and arcades. The majority of the original capitals have been lost but in the western gallery we can still see some and decipher their symbols.

The church of Santa Maria de Mur was not considered finished (like the majority of Romanesque temples) until the entirety of its walls were painted. In the central apse we find a Pantocrator encircled within a mandorla, seated and surrounded by stars. We also find the symbols of the four evangelists (Tetramorph), some inscriptions of religious texts and seven lamps. On the second level we find the figures of the twelve apostles and two scenes that we can rarely see in Romanesque paintings still in existence today: the atlanteans and two scenes of Abel and Cain. In the lower part or the third register, episodes of the infancy of Jesus are explained, and in one of the lateral apses we also find an infrequent theme: the Ascension, rarely represented in the apses.

The precious paintings of Santa Maria de Mur were removed by means of the strappo technique and sold in 1919 to the North American antiquarian Ignacio Pollak, this action motivated the first intervention of the Junta de Museus de Catalunya (Museum Group of Catalonia) that, in spite of their efforts, couldn't avoid that the paintings went to the United States.

Since the year 2008, however, the church of Santa Maria de Mur shows visitors a faithful copy of these paintings thanks to an innovative impressive technique. This action, along with the restoration of the church's cloister, makes it that the ancient canonry displays an appearance faithful of the original, after years of looting and abandonment.

The church of Santa Maria de Mur is part of the getaways ‘Romanesque weekend: the Pallars and the Alt Urgell’.




Author of the photographs: Josep Giribet.

In the middle of the Vall d’Àger, high on a hill stands the ancient canonry of Sant Pere, one of the most important sites of the Catalan Romanesque. Surrounded by a wall and situated in a strategic point that dominates the entirety of the valley, its stones bear evidence to a part of the history of the Christian conquest. 

The origin of the site is found in the castle erected by the Arabs. The vall d’Àger, like the majority of the territories in Lleida, was under Islamic control at the beginning of the 8th century. It wasn't until the end of the 11th century that the Christians, commanded by Arnau Mir de Tost, occupied the fortification. Arnau Mir and his wife Arsenda converted the castle into their political centre and residence and ordered the construction of the church of Sant Pere, soon housing a community of canonries.

The building that formed the ancient canonry exemplifies diverse styles, transformations and constructions: the major church, with an older part that shaped the crypt, the Romanesque cloister that in the 14th century was substituted for a Gothic cloister under the orders of Pere I, count of Urgell, and Gothic dependencies, renovated in some cases to match new styles, like the Renaissance refectory.

After a time of splendor, largely due to the privilege of Episcopal exemption, the Sant Pere de Àger went into decline in the 15^th century due to the depopulation of the vall d’Àger and the war against Joan II. The 16th century marked the secularisation of the abbey which was later converted into a collegiate church. The canonry didn’t resist the passage of time and was crumbling from the devastation of wars, sieges and pillaging (the Segadors (Harvesters), the war of Sucession and the Peninsular War, among others.)

At the moment you can find mural paintings in the Catalan National Museum of Art, in the Diocesan and Regional Museum of Lleida and in the United States.

The Collegiate church of Sant Pere de Àger is part of the ‘Discovering Àger’ getaway.




Authors of the photographs: Galazan, Rotatebot and Josep Renalias.

The imposing building of the cathedral of Girona hides numerous Romanesque treasures.  Constructed in the Romanesque style, the cathedral was first consecrated in 1038. As was the case with the majority of religious buildings it was overlaid with other styles during different constructive stages.

To find the traits of Romanesque architecture we must visit the cloister and from there, look to the ancient bell tower, also known as the “Tower of Charlemagne”. Nor can we leave the building without taking a look at what is known as the “Treasure of the cathedral”, where we find the magnificent Tapestry of Creation.

Dating to the second half of the 12th century, the cloister of the cathedral of Girona is one of the most interesting of the Catalan Romanesque style given its sculptural richness. We find high-quality sculptures in its 122 capitals and in the decorated friezes that encircle the pillars. The sculpted stone displays historiographical scenes from the Old and New Testament, isolated scenes with humans and animals, and finally, purely decorative flora and geometric motifs. Amongst the most prominent representations, we can take note of the Anastasis or the descent of Christ into Hell, in the southern gallery, or many episodes dedicated to Noah and of the Flood, in the western gallery.

The other Romanesque architectural element found in the cathedral of Girona is the ancient 11th century bell tower. It can be compared in significance to that of Sant Miquel de Cuixà and Sant Pere de Vic. Originally sporting a square floor plan and seven floors in height, it presented all of the elements of Lombard bell towers of the 11th century: pilasters, blind arches, and saw tooth friezes as the decorative elements, along with double windows (two per floor) with semi-circular aches. Built in two phases, the third floor features arches and friezes made of black volcanic rock that distinguishes them.

The Tapestry of Creation is an almost one-of-a-kind piece in the world only equalled in artistic and historic value by the Tapestry of Bayeux (11th century). This medieval "portrait” of Creation illustrates the origin of the sky and of the earth as they were conceived in the end of the 11th century. As the Tapestry of Creation doesn't appear in any cloth inventories that were made in the Cathedral of Girona, its origin is not known for certain. Nevertheless, it seems certain that 12 square meters religious decorative scarf was made in Girona at the end of the 11th century in an embroidery workshop using Needle painting. Nowadays the Tapestry of Creation, together with the Beat of Girona, is one of the most notable elements of the Treasure collection.
 
The Cathedral of Girona is part of the ‘Romanesque weekend: from Montseny to Garrotxa’ getaway.




Authors of the photographs: Bob Masters and Josep Giribet.

The Castle-Palace of la Bisbal d’Empordà, a construction that was at the same time castle, palace and prison, is one of the few examples of Romanesque civil architecture conserved in Catalan territory.

Located in the middle of a Medieval village, it was occupied for centuries by the lords of the region, the Bishops of Girona. The clergy obtained absolute control of la Bisbal (hence the name's origin) thanks to King Jaume I who granted them civil and criminal jurisdiction of the city. The castle became the site of spiritual and terrestrial power of its Lords. From its vantage point in the centre of the village, the bishops controlled the lands bathed by the river Daró and also administered justice which spurred the need for a prison.

The first thing that draws attention in the castle-palace is its sheer grandness. Boasting a rectangular layout, the original Romanesque building has been modified numerous times with structures of other styles (like the door and some Renaissance windows in the façade). As characteristic elements of Romanesque architecture we find semicircular voussoired windows in the North East and North West façade of the castle. In the latter area, there is also a basement constructed with inclined bricks, known as opus spicatum, a commonly utilised technique during antiquity and the first Middle Ages. Once inside the castle, we pass through a clearly Romanesque corridor, covered by a quarter circle vault and, descending the stairs we find the famous castle prison, a rectangular room covered with a semicircular arch.

The doors of the five rooms on the first floor are also crowned by these arches. If the bottom-most part is the prison, the highest part is the location of the chapel of Sant Miquel, also in the Romanesque style. The chapel is located in a rectangular space that, seen from the outside, is the most outstanding of the entire complex. With only a single nave the church is covered by a slightly pointed barrel vault.
 
The Castle-Palace of la Bisbal d’Empordà is part of the ‘Romanesque weekend: L'Empordà’ getaway.

The cathedral of Vic is a compendium of styles that span from the pre-Romanesque crypt to the neoclassical façade, passing to a Gothic cloister and a Baroque chapel.

To discover the “hidden” Romanesque it is necessary that we move along to the left of the building to find one of the two constructions of the 11^th century: the bell tower and the crypt. Both come from the ancient pre-Romanesque cathedral reformed by the Abbot Oliba, grandson of Guifré el Pelós (Wilfred the Hairy) and promoter of numerous buildings (the monasteries of Ripoll and Cuixà, amongst others).

The bell tower of the cathedral of Vic is a good example of Romanesque Lombard architecture in Catalan lands. Consisting of square floor, it is made with small and regular ashlar blocks. It measures eight meters in length and its six floors and 46 meters in height display a solid and svelte construction for the time.

The architectural ornamentation is a compendium of the Romanesque Lombard style: blind arches, pilasters and saw tooth friezes adorn the different floors of the bell tower. The windows increase in size and number as the tower gains height. The loopholes on the first floor, we pass the bifocal openings of the fourth floor and trifocal openings of the two upper floors.

The other Romanesque element that we find “hidden” within the building: the crypt, just below the presbytery, with pre-Romanesque capitals from the ancient church of Santa Maria. The crypt consists of three naves covered by ridge vaults. Eight cylindrical columns support the vaults and we know that the capitals that crown the vaults are the most ancient of the entire cathedral.
Its decoration is simple, based upon floral motifs, and is strongly influenced by Califate art. The crypt was untouched in the 18^th century and was discovered once again in 1943 thanks to the excavations by Eduard Junyent.

The cathedral of Vic is part of the ‘Romanesque weekend: from Barcelona to Vic’ getaway.




Authors of the photographs: Mutari, Bocachet and Vilaró Health.

Scribes, illuminators and miniaturists worked side by side in the workshop of the monastery of Ripoll, one of the centres of cultural reference in Medieval Europe. This celebrated workshop produced numerous manuscripts of great artistic quality, above all under the orders of the Abbot Oliba. Made in the first quarter of the 11th century, the Bible of Ripoll and the Bible of Rodes are the most enlightened that have come to us from the Romanesque period.

The monk Guifré (Wilfred), was the only copyists of these Bibles; the principal illustrator was, as historians have identified him, “an artist of the impressionist style.” His brushstroke was “original, decided and energetic” and he is responsible for the vast majority of the illustrations in the codex. With a different and less successful style, we find the third monk who participated in the Bible. He is clearly identified thanks to a peculiar characteristic: he had a propensity to make round faces, a bit full and utilised tools like the compass and the drawing pen to trace straight and curved lines.

The Bible of Ripoll is a large format volume (550x370mm) that contains 465 folios. More than the Sacred Scriptures, the codex includes 210 prologues, summaries and other introductory texts that make the Bible of Ripoll a type of “great illustrated medieval encyclopaedia.” The “font” of the texts is the pure Carolingian script by the monk Guifré (Wilfred), the only copyist of this work. The impressive miniatures and drawings in the work are renowned: we find 20 folios completely illustrated with miniatures that inspired the iconography of the lauded Portal of the monastery.

However, the Bible of Ripoll wasn't the only bible to come out of the rich workshop of the monastery. The first quarter of the 11^th century was prolific and, in total, there were three codices of this type made in Ripoll. In modern times only two are preserved, as the other copy disappeared in a fire in 1835.
The Bible of Ripoll was copied in the workshop and moved to Marseilles by the monks of the Monestir de Sant Víctor when the two abbeys were joined in 1070. Finally, in the 12^th century, the manuscript was taken to the Vatican thanks to the nephew of Pau V, and guarded in the Vatican Apostolic Library.

The third codex is known as the Bible of Rodes and was a gift of the Abbot Oliba from the Monestir de Sant Pere de Rodes with the motive of consecrating his monastic church (1022). This copy was stolen in the 17^th century by the French marshal Noailles during the looting of the monastery and later sold to the king Lluís XV.

The Bible of Rodes is written on vellum in what is known as pure Carolingian script. Originally it had 566 folios that, in the 18^th century in the hands of the French, were divided into four volumes. The artistic richness of the miniatures was important in and of itself but above all, for the great influence it had in inspiring Romanesque painting and sculpture. Art historians assume that the illustrations of the Bible inspired a fresco of the Crucifixion of Christ recovered from the cloister of Sant Pere de Rodes, some of the historic capitals (today in the National Museum of the Middle Ages of Paris) and scenes from the magnificent portal of Ripoll. It is now conserved in the National Library of France.

In 2002 and 2007, about a thousand years after its original edition, the two copies were reedited in copied version.