Animals and birds sculpted on a 12th century Romanesque capital preserved in the cloister of the Monestir or monastery at Sant Joan de les Abadesses in Ripollès county, Catalonia, Spain.
Sant Joan de les Abadesses, Ripollès, Catalonia, Spain: animals and birds sculpted on one of three 12th century Romanesque capitals preserved in a cloister gallery of four round arches that survived a devastating earthquake in 1428 and a fire in 1442 at the Monestir or monastery of this town in the Pyrenean foothills. The three cylindrical columns now stand as a blind arcade in one of the cloister walks rebuilt after the fire in Gothic style, with pointed arches, slimmer columns and smaller capitals. Although the monastery also retains its 12th century Lombard Romanesque church, it has much earlier origins. It 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), as part of his plan to repopulate frontier territories left uninhabited by the struggle against Saracen occupiers. Wilfred's 14-year-old daughter, Emma, was appointed its first abbess and she governed the nunnery until her death in 942. In 1017, the nuns were expelled, supposedly for moral laxity, and were replaced my monks - at various times under either Augustinian or Benedictine rule. The Romanesque church, consecrated in 1150, had to be partly rebuilt after the 1428 earthquake, which collapsed the bell tower, devastated an ancient bridge over the River Ter and damaged much of the walled medieval town.
Size: 2832px × 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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