Logbook · 16 places

Santa Maria de Besalú

Besalú, Garrotxa, Girona

1 Villages · 11 Monuments · 1 Activities · 2 Historical milestones · 1 Food and drink

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Santa Maria de Besalú

Monument · Besalú, Garrotxa, Girona

Santa Maria de Besalú is a church in Besalú (Girona) declared a cultural property of national interest, within the grounds of the former comital castle. Only part of its chancel is preserved: it was a temple with three naves, a transept and three apses, the central one much deeper than the lateral ones, decorated on the outside with blind arcading on pilaster strips. The quality of the ashlar work and the carved capitals place the building towards the end of the 12th century. It is first mentioned in 1055, as a castle chapel consecrated in the time of Count Guillem II; around 1171 it became the church of an Augustinian canonry dependent on the monastery of Sant Ruf d'Avinyó. The canonry was dissolved in 1592 and, after the disentailment, the ruins passed into private hands.

Photo: Karsten Ratzke (CC BY-SA 3.0)

What to see and do in Besalú