Monday, March 13, 2017
Living in
The city of the monastery, emblem of Sant Cugat del Valles
Enigmatic, beautiful and monumental. The Monastery of Sant Cugat del Vallés is undoubtedly one of the main tourist attractions of the municipality and a real pride for the neighbors of the area. A place that also hides an interesting history that is worth discovering ...According to the local chronicles, some of the earliest Romans who lived in Catalonia inhabited centuries ago. In fact in its same location, was a Roman fortification or Castrum Octavianum that perfectly fulfilled its role like military camp. For its foundation we must go back to the 9th century, when the Monastery of Sant Cugat del Vallés began to become a reality and, twelve centuries later, is undoubtedly one of the most important buildings in the Western Vallés.Sant Cugat del Vallés is known as "The city of the Monastery". A huge Romanesque and Gothic style temple that had its origins when uniting a tiny paleo-Christian basilica of the V century where to its surroundings already existed a small community of monks, with an existing fortification nearby. According to the existing documentation, it is recorded that the Monastery of Sant Cugat existed at least in the year 877 as we know it today, when the own Carolingian emperor Carlos the Calvo confirmed the monastery's assets. In 878, its successor Luis II placed it under the dominion of the bishops of Barcelona and until 973, fifteen abbots directed it.Its power was immense as well as its domains, reason why it attracted to a multitude of faithful and beggars in search of work in exchange for food or money reached its maximum splendor well entered the century X where the importance of the monastery begins to be remarkable. The possessions belonging to him came from the area of ??the Penedés until the Montseny being the years of Abbot Odón the most splendid of its history behaving even as a true feudal lord, religious and warrior at the same time. At his death, problems arose for the Monastery of Sant Cugat del Vallés and is that the feudal nobility felt threatened by their lands and fields, something that forced the Monastery to sell part of these.During the XI and XIII centuries, different abbots, but of high and medium noble lineages, dedicated themselves to govern the present and future of the Monastery, located in lands as fertile as those of the Vallès that undoubtedly helped to make of this a rich monastery And in constant growth during times. Apart from the proximity to the city of Barcelona, ??already at that time of great social, economic and cultural importance collaborating to participate in the territorial expansion of the county of Barcelona. In the middle of century XII began the works of construction of a new monastery. And of this time also they are the low galleries of the cloister besides the Romanesque part of the church. While throughout the thirteenth century the existing church was expanded in a work that lasted until 1337.Already in the time of Jaime I maintained the good relations of the monastery with the condal house by means of some privileges with the intention was to convert the monastery in counterpower to the bishop and the soothes of Barcelona. Until the year 1350 did not begin the works of fortification that we can see nor some towers of guard or the aqueduct for the water supply, that still today is preserved like the bridge of Can Vernet. Nevertheless, the end of this century meant the decline of the Monastery of Sant Cugat del Vallés coinciding in a historical moment where the abbots happened to be named by the pope or the kings and not by the community like until then.In the fifteenth century, the upper galleries of the cloister, the portico that preceded it and the upper parts of the bell tower were constructed and later in the 18th century the abbey palace was reformed, in which a new chapter room was set up. Little by little the community of monks was reduced, marking the year 1835 a point of inflection in its history. That year, the monks left the monastery and all its rich documentary and artistic treasure that was lost to a great extent. The cause was none other than the law of confiscation that forced the religious orders to abandon their belongings. From 1844 to 1931, the Monastery of Sant Cugat del Vallés was used as a public school, later also as an improvised barracks and even as a town hall. And different architectural elements of the same were distributed, sold or literally stolen. In 1931 it was declared a Historic Artistic Monument and restoration works were started, interrupted by the Civil War, and resumed in 1941. From 1968 to 1972 the Faculty of Arts of the Autonomous University of Barcelona was installed in the cloister and in the annex buildings until That in the decade of the 80, it was arranged that the Monastery of Sant Cugat del Vallés fulfilled its current function: A place of interest and must visit in this municipality.