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| HOTEL PARIS - |
ROMANIC
Like the rest of the Pyrenees, Andorra is also in a passing place, a crossroads and point of exchange which have favoured the blending of foreing influences with local artistic tradition. The Principality's emblematic churches are offered to visitors for their singular value as monuments or units of architecture, and are a true, unique opportunity to approach the history and culture of the country.
Pre-Romanesque and Romanesque art are the artistic manifestations that have lasted longest in the Principality, while other architectural styles have been imposed in other places in Europe. The Andorran Romanesque talks about the formation of the parish communities, about the first power relationships about the fascination for mystery and the ineffable. Architecturally, the Pre-Romanesque and Romanseque churches are characterised by their small size and simple construction with sober decoration of great beaty and harmony. you will find them in the most singular places of our cultural scenary.
SANT JOAN DE CASELLES CHURCH
The building dates back to the 11th to 12 th centuries and follows the architectural design design of the Romanesque churches of Andorra: a rectangular nave with a wooden celing, semicircular apse and Lombard style bell tower. It maintains two porches, probably built in the 16th and 17th centuries. Inside, we can see the remains of a stucco Romanesque majesty from the 12th century, surrounded by a mural pictorial scene representing the crucifixion with Longinos and Sthephanon accompanied by the sun and the moon.
Behind the alter grille ther is an altarpiece of reat artistic quality dating back to the 16th century, showing influences from the italian and German Renaissance, and scenes of the life and martyrdom of St. John, the author of the Apocalypse and the patron saint of the church.
HISTORICAL CENTRE OF LES BONS
The historical centre of les Bons is formed by the church of Sant Romà (C12th), a defence tower (C13th), a water tnk with an irrigation circuit dug out of the rock; the remains of a strong house bearing witness to the civil architecture (late C13th), and two modern day attic rooms.
The church, dedicated to Sant Romà, is Romanesque in origin, with a single rectangular nave and a semicircular Lombard style apse. Differente modifications have been made a time, such as the construction of the porch (C16th-17th)
Inside, the stone altarpiece is preserved with reproductions of the romanesque paintings by the Master of Santa Coloma (C12th) representing the apocalyptic view of St. John and paintings of Gothic tradition with iconography of St. Peter (C16th).
SANTA EULÀLIA'S CHURCH
The Romanesque parish church still preserved part of the original architecture. The building was exspanded and modified several times in the 17th and 20th centuries. the bell tower is the highest in Lombard Romanesque style in the country at 23 m, and was built after the church, around the second half of the 11th century.
The Romanesque apse was demolished in 1933 and only the original floor plan of the interior of the present church is preserved. The porch dates from the 14th century. The Romanesque baptismal pyre stands out with its arcature decoration, the baroque altarpieces from the 17th and 18th centuries and the new stained-glass windows by the artist from Encamp, Agustí Rios. The Bohigas-Martorel-Mackay office of architects led the reforms carried out from 1988 to 1989, and a square was created to connect with the extension of the nave and extends the structure of the building to set up the new parish centre there.
SANT MARTÍ DE LA CORTINADA
A Romanesque church from the 12th century with extensions from the 17th and 18th. It preserves the wall paintings made by the Master of la Cortinada at the end of the 12th century.
The church was extended in baroque times: the nave was turned and the new high altar was decorated with a 17th century multicolour wood altarpiece dedicated to the patron saint of the church. The side chapels also present baroque altarpieces dedicated to the Mother of God, to ST Antoni Abad the Mother of God of the Rosary. The grilles in wrought iron, the wooden furniture from the 17th century and the tubular bells and confessional are other important elements of the church.
SANT CLIMENT DE PAL CHURCH
The village of Pal is one of the best preserved rural units in Andorra, and has formed part of a special plan to protect traditional architecture since 1997. The church, the most important part of the whole centre, dates back to the late 11 th, early 12 th centuries with extensions from modern times. The floor plan has a rectangular nave and preserves a large part of the Romanesque walls. The present apse is square (C14th-18th) and replaces the original Romanesque one.
The Lombard style bell tower has three floors of twin windows, the last of which has double twin windows, unique in Andorra. Inside ther is a granite baptismal pyre, a Romanesque bust of the Mother of God of the Remei (C13th), two processional crosses in multicolour wood and an altapiece dedicated to Pope Climent, the patron saint oth the church (1709).
SANT CRISTÒFOL D'ANYÓS CHURCH
The Church is located at the top of the village of Anyós and was built strategically on a small hill from where the entrance to the valley could be visually controlled from Escaldes-Engordany as well as the villages fo Sispony, La Massana and even Ordino. The building dates back to the 12th century and preserves part of the original Romanesque structure, which comprises a very small construction, although it has been extended and modified over the years. Until the 1930s, the interior was decorated with Romanesque mural paintigs which were taken away. Today we find a picture of the Last Supper from French-Gothic times, surrounded by paintings from the 16 th century representing the passage of the souls through St. Michael and the representation of St. Christopher.
SANTA COLOMA CHURCH
A pre-Romanesque building with a rectangular nave covered with wooden trusses and a quadrangular apse. In the 12th century, the circular Lombard bell tower was added, one the few examples of such characteristics in the Pyrenees. The building was decorated with Romanesque mural paintings from the 12th century made by the Master of Santa Coloma. These paintings left the country in 1930 and were recovered by the governement of Andorra in 2007. Today in the church there is only the Agnus Dei flanked by two angels and the geometric decoration framing the ancient arch.
The church preserves a multicolour wood bust of Our Lady Remei (C12th-13th) and a baroque altarpiece (C18th), under the avocation of Santa Coloma, the patron saint of the church.
SANT ESTEVE'S CHURCH
A Romanesque builiding (C12th with considerable modifications during the 20 th century. Remaining from the Romanesque period are the semicircular apse, where the Romanesque mural paintings were represented which are now spread betwen the Catalonia Nationar Art Museum (MNAC), the image of a winged bull and El Crist davant de Pilat, are some of the fragments of the pictorial collection preserved in the Catalonia National Art Museum.
Inside the church, a multicolour wooden beam from the same period is preserved, and also two baroque altarpieces. Also outstanding is the Quadre de les ànimes from the 18th century. From the outside it is possible to see the semicircular apse which still has the original Lombard decoration and the Romanesque bell tower and tower. The restoration of the chrurch in 1940 was directed by the modernist architect Josep Puig i Cadafalch, who remodelled the bell tower and the present side entrance.
SANT CERNI DE NAGOL CHURCH
A small building which follows the typical architectural layout of the Romaesque churches of Andorra: Rectangular nave with a wooden ceiling and semicircular apse. It presents a belfry with a double opening and the porch probably added in modern times. Inside, the apse is covered by a quarter-sphere vault, the original altar is maintained as well as part of the Romanesque paintings, not very academic and rather primitive strongly influenced the miniature of the beatus. the paintings represent different angelical figures adoring the Agnus Dei and different motifs around the symboloy between the good and the bad.
SANCTUARY OF CANÒLICH
The church as we know today was built and restored in the early 20th century, but ther are references which indicate that Canòlich already existed in mediaeval times. It was a small centre of population mentioned for the first time in 1176. In 1745, in the Manual Digest de les Valls Neutras de Andorra, Antoni Fiter i Rossell mentioned "Na.Sra.De Canòlich" as one of the three main sanctuaries in the valleys of Andorra, along with the Meritxell and Sant Antoni de la Grella.
The church may have been built on top of another romanesque construction, as the image of the Virgin corresponds to the 12th century. A Romanesque bust was crowned by the Vatican in 1999, and is now in the parish church of Sant Julià in Sant Germà.
SANT MIQUEL D'ENGOLASTERS CHURCH
A Romanesque church built an uncertain time before the 12th century. It rectangular in shape with a nave, semicircular apse, two sided roof bell tower and a porch added later. The building is characterised by the disproportion between the nave and the 17 m bell tower. On the last floor of the tower bell, there is one of the few testaments to Romanesque sculpture in Andorra, some sculpted heads in the centre of the twin window arches.
Inside, there is the reproduction of the Romanesque mural paintings by the Master of Santa Coloma (C12th). The apse is presided by a Maiestas Domini Surronded by the Tetra Morpheus in which the Arrchangel ST. Michael, the patron saint of the church, blend with the symbol of St. Matthew. today, the original paintings are kept in Catalonia National Art Musseum (MNAC).
LA MARGINEDA BRIDGE
La Margineda bridge is located on the road which went from Sant Julià de Lòria to Andorra La Vella, passing through Santa Coloma. The structure passes over the river Valira, the main river in the country, which runs alongside the main road leading us to the capital.
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