Haunted Chapel Ruins: A Mysterious Tower Overlooking Torreblanca Hill

The church ruins of Sant Joan Baptista de Torreblanca, situated on the southern side of Torreblanca hill near the Segre river, exhibit late Lombard architectural forms. This Romanic church, presumed to be the first parish of Torreblanca, is part of the Catalonia Architectural Inventory. The nearby castle of Torreblanca, documented since the 11th century, is nearby. The church architecture includes a single-nave building with a semicircular-profile barrel vault supported by four toral arches and a semicircular apse at the east.

Only the eastern third of the nave's vault is preserved. The toral arches are supported not by pilasters but by real circular columns, supported by two or three tambour. The room with a niche, potentially the basis of a prismatic cupola tower, is found between the two columns that support the presbyterial arch. Arches formers, except for the east end where there is a portal with a lintel, are found between the columns. A south-facing window with a single esquequadra is also preserved.

Two doors, one with a lintel and the other at the west, are resolved with a semicircular arch. The church's walls are made of well-cut stones arranged in very uniform and regular courses. The apse has three windows with double esquequadra, perfectly integrated into the decoration absidal, formed by Lombard arches under the rafter in series of two between buttresses.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons