The Romanesque churches that have towers so high that they seem to want to touch the sky
In recent times it has been known for its shops (cheaper prices than in Spain), for the ‘youtubers’ who have settled there, for the ski slopes with lots of snow and for its tobacco factories, but, many centuries before , this little corner Between Spain and France it was already famous for its Romanesque art.
It all began – they say – at the beginning of the 9th century, when the Emperor Charlemagne founded Andorrain gratitude for the help given in his fight against the Saracens, filling it with churches.
With only 80,000 inhabitants, Andorra has about forty churches (one of the highest proportions in Europe), almost all Romanesque, built between the 10th and 12th centuries and spread throughout the territory. Its bell towers stand out, perhaps too big with respect to the size of the temple. They rise majestically in beautiful horizons. Art and nature in the same photo. The geographical situation, the steep terrain, has surely favored its conservation.
The Romanesque churches of the principality They are small, have little ornamentation and have a single nave, an apse and a portico at the entrance. Its bell towers -tower or belfry- are used mainly forTo communicate between towns and defend against attacks. Inside, they keep brightly colored paintings where Divinity is the main theme. Having whitewashed the walls has served so that they have remained ignored until relatively recently. Baroque altarpieces were added to many in the 17th and 18th centuries.
the most beautiful bridge
Just past the Spanish border and the medieval bridge of the marginalizedthe most beautiful in the Principality, the first Romanesque church that we find, near Andorra la Vella, is that of Santa Colomawith its circular bell tower seventeen and a half meters high.
Built in the 9th century (some reforms were made in the 12th century) it can be said that it is pre-Romanesque. His paintings, from the same period, were bought by a wealthy Jew from whom the Germans took them in 1942. Only the Agnus Dei survived. In 2007 they were bought for 4.5 million euros and returned to their place of origin in 2014. Its bell tower -the only round one in all of Andorran Romanesque- dates from the 14th century. A few meters from the temple we find the so-called ‘Espai Columba’, a recently inaugurated building where there are medieval pieces from other churches, highlighting the original frescoes recovered from Santa Coloma.
![Secondary image 1 - On the left, Sant Climent, in Pal, one of the oldest. On the right, the church of Sant Esteve, with its circular bell tower seventeen and a half meters high. In the photo above, San Martín, in La Cortinada. The building is of Romanesque origin (12th century) with important modifications during the 20th century.](https://s2.abcstatics.com/abc/www/multimedia/viajar/2023/01/24/andorra-iglesia-romanico3_20230124161755-U60243108065Tzm-464x329@abc.jpg)
![Secondary image 2 - On the left, Sant Climent, in Pal, one of the oldest. On the right, the church of Sant Esteve, with its circular bell tower seventeen and a half meters high. In the photo above, San Martín, in La Cortinada. The building is of Romanesque origin (12th century) with important modifications during the 20th century.](https://s2.abcstatics.com/abc/www/multimedia/viajar/2023/01/24/andorra-iglesia-romanico_20230124162310-U61485424276DAP-278x329@abc.jpg)
three examples
On the left, Sant Climent, in Pal, one of the oldest. On the right, the church of Sant Esteve, with its circular bell tower seventeen and a half meters high. In the photo above, San Martín, in La Cortinada. The building is of Romanesque origin (12th century) with important modifications during the 20th century.
Inside the old town of Andorra la Vella is sant esteve, which functions as a parish of the capital, enlarged for liturgical needs in the 20th century. Of the original Romanesque remains the bell tower and the semicircular apse, the largest in the whole country.
In the surroundings other churches remain like the one in Sant Serni de Nagol, raised on a rock with impressive views over the neighboring valleys. In 1976 the wall paintings of her were enchanted. the one of Saint Michael of Engolasters it rises to more than 1,500 meters highlighting a small nave and the huge Romanesque bell tower. His paintings ended up in the National Art Museum of Catalonia, in Barcelona. In Andorra we see the aftershocks. Nearby is the engolasters lake, of glacial origin and surrounded by legends, such as the one that arose burying a sinful people. The witches continued around bathing naked and it was said that they turned the peasants who saw them into black cats (that’s why there were so many).
Meritxell’s Day
Spectacular is the San Roma de les Bons, hanging between walls carved by the Valira Oriental river. As in Sant Miquel, his paintings are now replicas. of the of Santa Eulalia d’Encamp, reformed in the Baroque period, the bell tower remains, measuring twenty-three meters, the highest in Andorra. As to Saint John of Casellesalso with a spectacular tower, it preserves a stucco Christ in Majesty surrounded by wall paintings.
And we got to Meritxell Sanctuary, burned in 1972 and rebuilt by Ricardo Bofill. Inside is the replica of the patron saint. The original Romanesque Madonna was also lost in the fire. Meritxell Day -September 8- is the most important festival in the Principality.
Very spectacular is the church of Saint Martin of La Cortinada, in the parish of Ordino, which preserves the mural paintings discovered some 50 years ago in the church itself, saved because they were covered with lime. The temple belongs to the people and the neighbors have the key. In Ordino they found the Sant Corneli i Sant Cebrián, which was remodeled in the 17th century and preserves important Romanesque paintings and the carving of the smallest Virgin in Andorra. In Ordino, by the way, is the Tristaina viewpoint, with its enormous sundial at 2,701 m. altitude and its views over the lakes, inaugurated a year ago.
As for the of Saint Clement of Palin the parish of La Massana, it is one of the oldest, from the end of the 11th century, and has one of the most charming bell towers -Lombard-style, three heights and with moaning windows, the only example in Andorra- in this famous town for its winter facilities.