Prieuré de Serrabone

Before a paved road was constructed to the Serrabone Priory about 50 years ago, this place could only be reached via small mule tracks. The priory is still a secluded, hidden place in the valley of the Boulès, on the eastern foothills of the Canigou.

There had been a simple church before the monastery was founded before 1069, but what can be seen now, dates back to the 12 century, when Augustinian canons lived here a hard life.

After the monastery was given up by papal order in 1592, the church was still used by a parish later, but buildings crumbled. First efforts to reconstruct the priory were taken end of the 19th century, but the isolation of the place made that very difficult. After the road was constructed things changed, so in 1966 the new roof was finished - and the "monument" opened for visitors.

Having entered the nave - it is absolutely surprising to find this "building". This is a gallery, but from an architectonial point of view, it seems to be a completely different structure, that has nothing to do with the church around it. It is so breathtaking, that it seems, that the church was erected around this structure just to protect it from weathering.

It is undisputed, that this gallery (14 pillars! Marble!) was created 1130 - 1150 and it is undisputed that the masters having carved the capitals of the cloister, worked here as well. It is disputed, how such an exorbitant work of art, could be created (and financed!) in such a remote monastery. One theory connects the Serrabonne Priory with the "Chemin du Piemont" one of the many pilgrim roads to Santiago, but the structure is not really typical for a church erected for the pilgrims.

A detail from one of the capitals is this monkey sitting on a small head and obviously chatting to the creature in the foreground. All carved out of reddish marble.