Architecture

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.

“We have given a degree to a madman or a genius, time will tell”, said Elies Rogent, director of the School of Architecture of Barcelona, during the graduation of Antoni Gaudí (1852–1926) in 1878. Today nobody can doubt the revolution caused by the work of this illustrious man from Reus in the history of architecture, even though his innovative talent would not be recognized outside of our borders under after his death.

He is considered to be the best example of modernism, even though his style goes beyond his skill in inventing new building solutions (such as his centenary arch), incorporating innovative techniques and creating a unique architectonic language, based on curved and dynamic shapes. At the same time, he used all applied arts in his buildings (glasswork, wrought iron, furniture...), especially a technique that would bring back decoration with mosaics and would turn into his calling card: the trencadís.

The son of coppersmiths, the Gaudí family business taught him the skill of working in three dimensions. Even though he was not a brilliant student, his skill with drawing and his taste for detail and perfectionism would shape his vocation. Since he was young, a problem with rheumatism required him to take long strolls among trees, plants and animals. This fascination with nature would stay with him for his entire professional career. He would also make him profoundly religious.

The first stage of his work (1878-1882) is marked by cooperative ideals: all his works from this period have an urban and social nature. The cooperative L’Obrera Mataronense (Gaudí Nave) stands out.
During the following years (1883 – 1900), he dedicated his efforts to achieving his own style, which started to take shape in buildings such as Casa Vicens (1883-85), the Capricho in Comillas (1883-85), the Güell Pavilions (1884-87), the Güell Palace (1886-91), the episcopal church of Astorga (1887-94), the College of the Teresians (1888-90), the Casa de los Botines in León (1891-94), the gateway of the Finca Miralles (1901-02), Casa Calvet (1898-1904) and Bellesguard Tower. In this period, he would meet the one who would become his patron, Eusebi Güell.

His most creative and innovative period was from 1900 to 1917: Park Güell (1900-14), Casa Batlló (1904-06), the church of the Güell colony (1908-15), the Pedrera (1906-12) and the schools of the Sagrada Família.

In the years prior to his death (1918-1926), he dedicated himself exclusively to his big project: the Sagrada Família, where he fused his religious concerns and his breakthrough architectonic ideas. A tram cut off his dream of seeing his life’s work finished. Since 2005, 7 Gaudí buildings have been part of the UNESCO World Heritage List.

The Royal Shipyard building, where many of the boats that would set sail during the Medieval and Modern period, are now gathered in the Maritime Museum of Barcelona (MMB). Therefore, there is no better place to explore and learn about the maritime culture and history of Catalonia.

The large gothic naves House the boats of the permanent collection of the museum, such as the Royal Galley, the boat República or the catboat Jean et Marie, going through shipbuilding between the 13th and 18th centuries.  Other pieces of note in the collection are the multiple figureheads that the museum holds and marine instruments such as octants and sextants, mechanical sonar devices, compasses and nautical astrolabes, among others.

The restored Royal Shipyards of Barcelona opened their doors on 16 February 2013, once the restoration was finished for this extraordinary heritage site. The renovation also includes the Museum, which now displays elements that facilitate interactive dialogue, life experience and cross-disciplinary knowledge of maritime culture and history using multiple disciplines.

Cadaqués was a simple, isolated fishing village in the Cap de Creus (Alt Empordà), which became a privileged tourist destination in the early 20th century. The sloping streets of medieval origin, the whitewashed facades, the bay and the surrounding landscape of olive trees, create a monumental complex where everything seems unusual. Therefore it is not surprising that it attracted the most surreal of Catalan artists, Salvador Dalí, who settled here in Portlligat.

The first documentary evidence of the existence of Cadaqués dates from the early 11th century. Of the old fortified town and the castle only a tower remains now, the Bastion, and a portal with a rebated arch giving onto the beach. In 1444, pirates burned the town almost in its entirety.

Between the 17th and 18th centuries the parish church of Santa Maria was built, in the Gothic style with Baroque elements, which crowns the village. A period of prosperity began at this time thanks to trade with America and the cultivation of wine and olive oil. The neoclassical buildings of the Casino l’Amistat and the Casa Rahola are from this time.

At the beginning of the 20th century, Cadaqués opened itself up to wealthy vacationers from Barcelona and Girona. From this period are the modernista buildings of the Casa Serinyana (1910) and the Casa Pont (1929). In the 1960s, new rationalist style buildings were constructed - the Harnden and Bombelli houses and Casa Milà i Correa - which combined traditional architecture with the new thesis of contemporary architecture.

Cadaqués is no longer an isolated village, but still retains that Bohemian air which made it famous throughout the 20th century. Names such as Eugeni d'Ors, Santiago Rusiñol, Federico García Lorca, Truman Capote, Picasso, Chagall and Miró were attracted to this jewel of the Costa Brava.

Horta de Sant Joan, the village in the Terra Alta, which inspired a young Picasso marking it forever, was founded on a rugged landscape in a wonderful position between the Serra dels Pesells mountains and the Parc Natural dels Ports.
 
The origins of the town of Orta (as the town was known until the 19th century) date back many centuries. The archaeological evidence tells of a settlement of the Iberian people, the Ilercavones, in the highest part of the village, while in the mountainous area of Roques de Benet there was the Roman settlement of Bene. In the 8th century the Muslims conquered the area and it was reconquered by the Christians the 12th century. In this period, Horta de Sant Joan had a castle and a walled enclosure, which gave rise to the medieval town that has survived to the present day.
 
Still preserved are the narrow concentric alleys that surrounded the castle, which has now disappeared. The route through the historic centre allows several Gothic (the parish church of Sant Joan Baptista) and Renaissance (the town hall, Casa Clúa, Casa Pitarch and the Casa del Delme) buildings to be seen and to enjoy magnificent views over the mountain of Santa Bàrbara.
 
In year 1898, when Pablo Picasso with just 16 years old, he was invited to Horta de Sant Joan by his fellow student Manuel Pallarès in order to complete his cure from scarlet fever. It was then that the artist’s relationship with the municipality began, one that lasted throughout his life.
 
11 years later, when Picasso was already an established artist, he returned to the village with his partner Fernanda Olivier. The results of this second stay were the Cubist works such as the La Fàbrica and La Bassa, which show the streets and surroundings of Horta. In 1992, the Centre Picasso  was founded, located in the former hospital of the village.