Discovering the Romanesque Route of La Cerdanya

* The author is part of the community of readers of La Vanguardia.

Oliver Thansan
Oliver Thansan
26 July 2023 Wednesday 22:45
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Discovering the Romanesque Route of La Cerdanya

* The author is part of the community of readers of La Vanguardia

In Las Fotos de los Lectores de La Vanguardia we have toured the architectural heritage of the Romanesque Way, a cross-border route of the Pyrenean Romanesque.

This itinerary runs transversally from Perpiñán, the region of Roselló in Northern Catalonia, to Bassella, at the southern limit of Alt Urgell.

The route crosses the Roselló, the Conflent, Cerdanya and Alt Urgell, that is, from the Mediterranean to the beginning of the western highlands.

The route first follows the Tet river valley and then connects with the Segre valley, in the form of a natural corridor with the only orographic obstacle of Coll de la Perxa.

The religious architecture of the early Middle Ages in La Cerdanya is characterized by buildings of reduced dimensions. Stand out, for example, Santa Maria de Talló and Sant Pere d'Alp.

The architectural renovation of the 11th century implanted in this territory the Lombard forms of a very simple character, with constructions devoid of decoration.

The religious representations are basically in wood carving and focus on Christ in Majesty and the Virgin Mary. Few vestiges of mural painting are preserved, which, except for some samples in the French Cerdanya, are found in different museums.

In the guide From Cap de Creus to the Strip. Mountain temples and hermitages, by Enric Sánchez-Cid, you can consult all this Romanesque heritage of Cerdanya.