The overlooked church's marked legacy

The Church of Santa Maria de Besalú, located inside the old castle’s fortress, is first mentioned in 1055, when it was consecrated as the castle’s church, in the time of Count Guillem II. Around 1171, after the disappearance of the County of Besalú, it became the church of the Augustinian Canonry, established within the castle’s fortress and dependent on the monastery of Sant Ruf d'Avinyón. Built in the late 12th century, this church is a Cultural Interest National Heritage.

The church had three naves, divided by pillars with square bases and attached columns (4 pillars per side), with a transept and three absides, the central one much deeper than the laterals. The sector preceding the central altar is covered with barreled vault, as well as the remaining part of the transept. Externally, the absides are decorated with blind arches over pillars – which here become semi-columns – alternating with corbels in the central altar.

The treatment of the absides, together with the appearance of the walls - large regular blocks of worked stone - the perfection of the archways, the columns, and the carvings of the capitals and imposts, place this work at the end of the 12th century. Only part of the church’s chapel remains.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons