CHURCH OF SANTA MARIA DE PORQUERES

Sitting on a tiny hill, on the east shore of the lake, Santa Maria de Porqueres was built in this particular place to prevent floods. As a monument of national interest since June 1931, the first documents concerning the church date back to the year 906, but it was only on April 5, 1182 that its current version was devoted. The last works took place in the late 1950 s, when the former square tower was replaced and the first voûte was restored. Unlike most of the Romanesque churches, it has a rather sober main portal, but with many ornamental elements: a gradient of four very worked arches, the first of which consists of 22 medallions on animal and plant grounds, 4 sculpted capitals and a heavy entrance door of oak wood, decorated with Romanesque forged fittings. The nave, with its smooth walls with smooth walls ending with a simple corniche, is 19,30 m long for 7 m wide, and 8,5 m from the apse to the embedded absidioles, carved into rugged stones. The majestic arc of triumph and its two powerful columns delineate the space of the nave and the presbytery, the most sacred area of the church. The ornaments of capitals tell the history of creation: A Jesus Christ in a spirit of blessing surrounded by the apostles, scenes of the gardens of Eden, and winged angels holding a Pantocrator (almighty God). In the presbytery there is a procession cross of the th century and a statue of the Mare de De, the patron of the parish, dating back to the same time. Finally, there is the "Comunidor" (or reliquary) with a wooden structure with a wooden cross of medieval origin, and the beautiful cemetery of the church.