Sant Joan de les Abadesses - Monastery

The monastery was founded in 885 by Wilfred the Hairy as one of the first nunneries in Catalonia. First abbess here was his daughter Emma. At that time her brother Radulf was abbot in nearby Ripoll, where Wilfred had founded a monastery as well. A family business!

The church of the nunnery was consecrated in 887, but already in 1017, by request of Bernard I of Besalú, a papal bull suppressed the nunnery. Bernard then established a community of monks. In 1114 Augustinian canons took possession of the monastery, ruled by local abbots until 1484. In 1592 the monastery was secularized and converted into a simple collegiate that was given up in 1856.

The church has a single nave and a wide transept. The transept opens to to five apses. Many carved capitals can be found in the dim building - and Wilfred the Hairy´s "crown" is on display here.

Another surprise, as not only the beardpullers are outside and inside the church, the elephants as well. These elephants are really identical to the cousins outside the apse.