SANT PERE DE RODES MONASTERY

Located on the Verdera mountain, Sant Pere de Rodes Monastery is one of the treasures of the Catalan Romanesque art, one of the most emblematic of the Empordà. It stands at almost 520 meters above sea level, in the heart of a breathtaking landscape. The origins of this Benedictine monastery are uncertain even if the first mentions reveal it at the end of the ninth century. However, it is the beginning of the Xe that marks the beginning of its splendor with the construction of the church intervening between the nineteenth and eleventh centuries. The power and prestige of the Abbey of Rodes will consolidate between the XII and xiiith centuries making it one of the most important spiritual, political and economic power centers of its time. Power that will result in a considerable expansion of its dependencies and the realization of works of great artistic value, such as the marble portal carved on the portico by the master of Cabestany, disappeared today.

Armed conflicts, epidemics and Benedictine crisis will contribute to its decadence from the xivth century, even though it experienced an era of economic recovery from the xviith to xviiith through the growth of the vineyard in the region. The monks will abandon it definitively in 1798 and will follow a long process of collapse and intense destruction until 1930, when it will be classified as a National Historic-Artistic Monument. This will be the beginning of the early restoration work, but it will be until the decade 1989-1999 that an ambitious archeological excavation and restoration program is carried out.

Your visit will allow you to identify the different ways of renovating it.

There are two good hours for the tour of the whole which is built around twenty elements, of which of course the upper cloister, of the xiith century considered as the heart of the monastery and the church and its square tower, of Lombard influence.

Two other monuments complement this set of Sant Pere de Rodes: the castle of Sant Salvador de Verdera, at the top of the mountain and the small village of the Vall de Santa Creu de Rodes, 1 km north, taking a street adjacent to the one leading to the monastery.

To those who wish to enjoy an even more beautiful view of El Port de la Selva, it is advisable to continue the climb to the remains of the very old church of Santa Elena, of preromane origin, located near the monastery. And whose excavations in the vicinity suggest that this place must have been a key passage in pilgrimages to Sant Pere de Rodes.