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 current church dates back to the 12th century, though it got largely restored after an earthquake in 1428. It has a single nave, a wide transept and five apses.

A capital of the extraordenary decorated central apse depicts elephants, a very rare species on medieval capitals. The elephants, seen here, are pretty "exact" and realistic. The ratio body/head and head/trunk is very well, only the ears are missing and the feet look strange.

The first elephant, who is recorded in Europe (after Roman times), was Abul Abbas, presented to Charlemagne by Harun al-Rashid. Abul Abbas reached Aix-la-Chapelle in 802.
The second elephant recorded is the "Cremona Elephant", presented by Sultan Al-Kamil to Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, in 1229.
In 1255 Louis IX of France (aka "Saint Louis") brought an elephant home from the 6th cruisade. This one was given to Henry III of England and died in London in 1258.

So during the 12th century, when this capital was carved, there was no elephant in Europe, what has led to the speculation, to see these elephants as carved by moorish carvers, who may have had different experiences/backgrounds.