Sant Pere del Burgal
Sant Pere del Burgal is a former Benedictine monastery from the 9th century. It is located near the town of Escaló and belongs to the municipality of Guingueta d'Àneu in the Comarca Pallars Sobirà in the province of Lleida in the Spanish autonomous region of Catalonia . Of the monastery buildings, only the church remains, apart from a few remains of the wall. The original wall paintings in the apse have now been replaced by copies. They were demolished in 1932 and have been kept in the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya in Barcelona ever since. In 2012 the church was declared a monument ( Bien de Interés Cultural ).
history
The monastery was first mentioned in a document from Count Raimund I of Toulouse from the year 859. Sant Pere del Burgal was soon subordinated to the Santa Maria de Gerri monastery, twelve kilometers south of Sort . In the middle of the 10th century, an abbess Ermengarda is mentioned when Sant Pere del Burgal was briefly converted into a women's convent. In the 11th century, the monastery fell into the dependence of the 30 kilometers southeast of Carcassonne located Lagrasse Abbey to the Priory it was. In 1570 the monastery fell into disrepair and was closed. In 1770 Sant Pere del Burgal came back to the monastery of Gerri, in 1835 it was finally dissolved .
church
The church is designed as a three-aisled basilica . It had a double choir , as was common in Carolingian architecture. Examples of churches with east and west choirs in Spain are the churches of San Cebrián de Mazote and Santiago de Peñalba . The west choir was two-story, and an altar was set up in the lower area. Today only the three-part east choir is preserved. This was converted into a chapel and is the only roofed part of the building. Above the arches of the main nave, the openings in which the wooden ceiling was anchored can still be seen on the walls.
Wall painting
The wall and ceiling paintings in the apse are dated to the 11th and 12th centuries and are attributed to the Master of Pedret . Along with the wall paintings by Sant Quirze de Pedret , Santa Maria d'Àneu and Sant Pere d'Àger, they are considered to be the most important from this workshop.
The center of the apse calotte is depicted as Majestas Domini , but it is badly damaged. Only the feet of Jesus and the lower part of the mandorla can be seen. On the left the prophet Isaiah and the archangel Gabriel are shown, on the right the prophet Ezekiel and the archangel Michael . On the level below, Mary is surrounded by five haloed people. The apostle Peter can be recognized by his keys, the apostle Paul by his bald head. John the Baptist holds a bowl with the Lamb of God . The female figure on the lower right represents a countess who, however, cannot be clearly identified.
literature
- Joan Ainaud de Lasarte: Catalogne novels . 3rd edition, La Pierre-qui-Vire (Zodiaque) 1994, ISBN 2-7369-0208-4 , pp. 218-219, 296.
Web links
- Monestir de Sant Pere del Burgal. In: Inventory of the historical buildings. Generalitat de Catalunya, accessed December 1, 2013 (Catalan).
- Monasterio de Sant Pere del Burgal Monasterios de Catalunya, accessed December 1, 2013 (Spanish)
- Sant Pere de Burgal www.romanicocatalan.com, accessed December 1, 2013 (Spanish)
Coordinates: 42 ° 32 '45.5 " N , 1 ° 10' 1.9" E