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Monastery of Sant Joan de les Abadesses

Sant Joan de les Abadesses, Ripollès, Girona

1 Villages · 6 Monuments · 2 Historical milestones

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Monastery of Sant Joan de les Abadesses

Monument · Sant Joan de les Abadesses, Ripollès, Girona

The Monestir de Sant Joan de les Abadesses, founded in 887 by Count Guifré the Hairy for Benedictine nuns — the only women's monastery in Catalonia until 945 —, houses a Romanesque church renovated from 1130 and consecrated in 1150, with a Greek-cross plan and an apse with two tiers of arcading. The altar is presided over by the Davallament, a sculptural group carved in 1250 and one of the most outstanding works of Catalan Romanesque art, known as the Santíssim Misteri ever since incorrupt remains were found in 1426 hidden in a reliquary inside the head of Christ. It is completed by a Gothic cloister from 1442, the Baroque chapel dels Dolors, with a Pietat by Josep Viladomat, and the 1345 Gothic tomb of Abbot Miró de Tagamanent, the work of an alabaster workshop active in the town in the 14th century.

Photo: José Luis Filpo Cabana (CC BY 3.0)

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