Romanesque ART ROUTES ROMANESQUE ART ROUTES ISBN 978-84-393-9921-6 9 788439 399216 Romanesque ART ROUTES 2 3 4 Summary 6 - Catalonia, land of Romanesque art 8 - The frst European art 9 - Evolution and main characteristics 10 - Suggested routes 12 - Route 1 From La Seu d’Urgell to La Pobla de Claramunt via the Segre Valley, the La Segarra plateaus and L’Anoia 20 - Route 2 From La Val d’Aran to Lleida via Pallars and Ribagorça 32 - Route 3 From Penedès to New Catalonia via the monasteries of the Cistercian and military orders 38 - Route 4 From La Cerdanya to the Barcelona area via the Llobregat and Cardener valleys 48 - Route 5 From the Pyrenees to Barcelona via El Ripollès, Osona and Vallès 58 - Route 6 From Empordà and La Garrotxa to La Selva via Girona 69 - Romanesque art in museums 73 - Map of the Romanesque art routes 77 - Tourist information << TAÜLL. SANT CLIMENT < RIPOLL. SANTA MARIA Catalonia, land of Romanesque art Catalonia is and always has been receptive to the various artistic styles that have succeeded one another in Europe. Perhaps one of the most profoundly assimilated was Romanesque art, which emerged while Catalonia’s historical personality was taking shape during the height of feudalism. The birth and expansion of Romanesque art took place at a time when the sovereignty of the Counts of Barcelona had been recognised by the other Catalan counts. This unifcation coincided with two other major events. One was the de facto severing of all feudal ties with the French kings who had succeeded the last Carolingians; the other was the expedition to Crdoba (1010), which defnitively quashed the threat of an invasion from Al-Andalus and put the small Muslim-ruled principalities, into which the caliphate had been split up, under the protection of the Catalan counts. It was an age of prosperity and euphoria, when the great noble families were OSOR. MARE DE DÉU DEL COLL consolidating their position, the hierarchy of feudal society was being set up, gold coins were beginning to circulate and the population was growing fast. All this was happening in Old Catalonia, which lay to the north of the traditional route to Aragon through the L’Anoia, La Segarra and L’Urgell comarques (natural regions), a line that was slowly pushed further back until the Catalan conquest of all New Catalonia was complete (1148-53). The very gradual nature of the conquest explains why Romanesque buildings are so abundant in the Pyrenean mountains and foothills, more widely scattered in the central lowlands, and few and far 6 between and from the very late Romanesque period in southern Catalonia. In Catalonia there are some 1,900 Romanesque churches and chapels, about 200 castles, towers and fortifed houses, a few partially renovated manor houses and city mansions, some unusual buildings like the bath houses in Girona, as well as bridges, mills and other AÜLL (1123). MNAC buildings with Romanesque features. To this architectural heritage must be added the mural paintings, antependia, sculptures, illuminated manuscripts and other objects that have been kept either in the same churches they were created for or in the major museums in Barcelona, Vic, Solsona, Girona, La Seu d’Urgell and Lleida. Not everything inherited HAND OF GOD, SANT CLIMENT DE T by us from the Romanesque period is of equal value and interest. The same difference exists between a great monastery and a simple, small country church as between a castle or palace and a farmhouse. Some of these small buildings hold special importance, primarily as tokens of a bygone age and as elements that form part of the landscape. But there can be no doubt that Catalan Romanesque heritage as a whole ranks among the richest and most beautiful in Europe. 7 The frst European art Romanesque art was the frst great style to be shared by the whole of Western Europe since the fall of the Roman Empire. It emerged at the end of the frst millennium, as the Carolingian Empire was breaking up and the various European nations were taking shape, and quickly swept from Dalmatia to the British Isles and from northern Germany to the Christian border with Al- Andalus, propagated by conquests, religious orders and pilgrimages. Although Romanesque art is a blend of preceding building traditions and of experiments made during the Carolingian period and at the beginning of the Holy Roman Empire, it is, nonetheless, an original and vigorous style that lasted until well into the 13th century. Its solid and sober lines are characteristic of everything built at the time (churches and monasteries, castles, country houses and bridges) and it also yielded magnifcent results in the felds of painting, sculpture, precious metalwork, tapestries, miniatures and furniture. Moreover, Romanesque art was closely bound up with the frst attempts at popular poetry, the birth of Western philosophy and theology, GIRONA. SANT PERE DE GALLIGANTS speculative theory and legal studies, and the formation and consolidation of the Romance languages, which had resulted from the breakdown of Vulgar Latin. The term “Romanesque art” was coined in 1818 by the French architect Charles de Gerville, though no systematic research on it took place until the end of the 19th century. In Catalonia the frst outline study of Catalan Romanesque art, which is still valid today, was conducted between 1909 and 1918 by a team headed by Josep Puig i Cadafalch. 8 Evolution and main characteristics Following attempts throughout the 10th century to build churches from stone, mortar and lime and to cover the main body of the building with vaulted roofs (pre-Romanesque style), teams of Lombard master builders, and the master builders they had infuenced spread rapidly throughout Europe. This brought about the appearance of the more ambitious but still severe and utilitarian buildings of early Romanesque art, with their massive masonry structures (needed to support the barrel vault), decorated with blind arcades and Lombard bands in their semi-circular apses and on walls, with aisles separated by pillars joined together by the characteristic semi-circular arches that were also used for doorways and windows. From the end of the 11th century and throughout the 12th century, schools of stonemasons (in the traditions of Provence, Roussillon, Toulouse, Auvergne, etc.) brought sculpture into the buildings and cloisters (using motifs inspired by oriental fabrics, illuminated Bibles, bestiaries and scenes from everyday life) at the same time as the architecture became more complex using delicately carved ashlar stones (second Romanesque or full Romanesque). Though small country churches continued to be built, religious buildings of monumental proportions also began LA SEU D’URGELL. SANTA MARIA to appear with beautifully sculpted cloisters, ambulatories, lantern towers and slender bell towers, archivolts around the doorways, tympanums and columns with lavishly decorated capitals. Local architecture schools sprang up, each with a well- defned style that was ornate or austere depending on the external infuence it received, followed by others that tie in with early Gothic or French art. The 12th and 13th centuries saw Cistercian and military order architecture spread vigorously to Catalonia. In the 13th century, there was a fnal revival of the so-called School of Lleida, centred on the cathedral of Lleida, which was of great infuence in western Catalonia and introduced decoration of a Toulouse infuence. 9 SANT PERE DE RODES Suggested routes In view of the great number of monuments and the size of this publication, we have been forced to make diffcult choices on what to include. We can only suggest a limited number of examples of Catalan Romanesque art for visitors to discover along six routes that follow the main lines of communication leading from north to south. Alternative routes are proposed so that those with the time and inclination can undertake partial excursions, skip part of the main route, or combine one route with another. Three of the routes begin at the French border with Roussillon (a region that has historical links with Catalonia). There visitors may choose to discover the rich Romanesque heritage this region has to offer. Two other routes afford the opportunity to include the Romanesque art of Andorra, Gascony and the areas lying along the Aragonese border that were also once linked to Catalonia. 10 The route through Penedès and New Catalonia allows travellers to discover the art styles of the Cistercian order and the Knights Templar, and the area that came under the infuence of the School of Lleida. It should be pointed out that only a few monuments have fxed visiting hours. Country churches are often closed for security reasons when no service is taking place and the keys are kept at the town hall or at a house in the village. Information on the opening hours of monuments, accommodation and restaurants, as well as help in making your journey more fulflling and enjoyable, may be obtained from any tourist information offce. It is our hope that these suggestions may be of assistance to you in discovering the great treasures of Catalan Romanesque art. 11 ROUTE 1 AÜLL (1123). MNAC From La Seu d’Urgell to La Pobla de Claramunt v a the Segre Valley, the La Segarra plateaus and L’Ano a e take the N-145 from the border with Andorra HAND OF THE VIRGIN, SANT CLIMENT DE T Wdown the Valira Valley and soon come to the historical buildings in Sant Serni de Tavèrnoles, which stands on the opposite bank. Slightly further on is the ancient and dynamic capital of the L’Alt Urgell comarca (natural region), La Seu d’Urgell, lying in the midst of a broad, green plain surrounded by mountains, where the Segre and Valira rivers meet.