Solsona - Catedral de Santa María

The Iberians and the Romans have been here, Visigoths made their way to Solsona in the fifth century and, three centuries later, the Saracens settled here for about 70 years, until it came under the rule of the Franks. A monastery dedicated to Santa Maria was established in 1070 with connections to the Counts of Urgell.

In the 13th century is evidence of a weekly market. The town was completely encircled by a wall (up to 16 m high) which had 21 towers. The Black Death of 1348 caused a depopulation of the region.
A pre-Romanesque church existed here in 977. The first Romanesque church was consecrated in 1070. Preserved from this church are the three apses, seen on the previous upload, and the bell tower, here seen from the cloister. The present church is Gothic and was begun in the late 13th century. It was completed in the 17th century, so lot of barroque elements can be found. Upto 1593 this was a College church, from there on a Cathedral housing bishop's see, as Pope Clement VIII (on request of Philip II, created the new Diocese of Solsona.



The Bishops of Solsona of course needed a comfortable place to live and work, so a neoclassical episcopal palace was added to the former monastery within the 18th century - and now houses the Diocean Museum.


Objects inside museums are mostly well protected - but miss the "locus", they were produced for and where they had been for centuries. Sometimes these places just do not exist any longer and the objects are really saved. But placed inside a museum, the objects are not part of an "ensemble", what is a pity.

From the "Museu Diocesà de Solsona"

A very archaic carvings.

There is a nude couple to the left holding to a stick or tree. Above them is a large bird, followed by two smaller ones. Next to the female person is a tree, that grows diagonally through the picture to the right upper corner. This tree has branches with leaves and frames a (nude) person with a nimbus. The round objects next to this figure may be large leaves or wings. If these are wings, the person is an angel. There might be a snake in the right lower corner. Under the central tree is a four legged animal. In the center of the tree (and the carving) is a rectangular object with a round hole.

When Adam and Eve had to leave the Garden of Eden, they were not naked anymore, otherwise, this would have been my first guess.
While the area seen on the right side of the relief is lush, the left has not much vegetation. If it´s true, that the dog is man's best friend, then the four-legged creature crossing from right to left is a dog. The rectangular object could stand for the portal of the Paradies, noch locked. But why should the angel stand behind that door?