Gaunt Romanesque beauty: the 12th century church of the Monestir or monastery at Sant Joan de les Abadesses in Ripollès, Catalonia, Spain, originally a Benedictine nunnery founded by Catalan nobleman Count Guifré el Pilós (Wilfred the Hairy) and governed by his 14-year-old daughter, Emma.
Sant Joan de les Abadesses, Ripollès, Catalonia, Spain: the Monestir or monastery of this historic town in the Pyrenean foothills has much earlier origins than the 12th century Romanesque architecture of its church might suggest. The Monestir was founded in 887 AD as a Benedictine nunnery - the first female religious community in Catalonia - by Count Guifré el Pilós or Pelós (Wilfred the Hairy), with the aim of repopulating frontier territories left uninhabited by the struggle against Saracen occupiers. Wilfred's 14-year-old daughter, Emma, was appointed its first abbess. Emma governed the nunnery until her death in 942, but in 1017, the nuns were expelled, supposedly for moral laxity, and were replaced my monks - at various times under either Augustinian or Benedictine monastic rule. The Romanesque church, consecrated in 1150, had to be partly rebuilt after an earthquake in 1428 that collapsed the bell tower, devastated an ancient bridge over the River Ter and damaged much of the fortified medieval town around the monastery. A Gothic cloister replaced its Romanesque predecessor in 1442. Outside, the church is decorated with Lombard arches, columns and capitals. Inside, it houses alabaster altarpieces and the Holy Mystery, a magnificent cherry wood sculptural group representing the Descent from the Cross, carved in 1251 in an artistic style somewhere between Romanesque and Gothic.
Size: 4256px × 2832px
Location: Sant Joan de les Abadesses, Ripollès, Catalonia, Spain.
Photo credit: © Terence Kerr / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
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