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From Martinet de Cerdanya (La Cerdanya - Spain) one must head south towards the sanctuary of Bastanist, which is situated at the foot of the Sierra del Cadí, not far from Víllec. In these surroundings, where green is the dominant colour and where man’s efforts have left their mark in the form of grazing meadows, the little village of Víllec stands, silent and timid. At an altitude of 1,080 metres, and with just one single family of inhabitants (on the day of the visit), the hamlet clusters around the parish church of Sant Martí. This church is Romanesque, with a single nave with walls strengthened on the inside by a countermure with arches. This place was mentioned as far back as in the year 961. Just before entering the temple of Sant Martí we can see the well-conserved commemorative column, which for many generations served as the point for dispensing blessings to lands and people. It is one of the few places which still conserves this vestige of history and tradition. Cal Pallarès of Víllec has become history because it was the boy from this house who found the image of the Virgin in the Bastanist meadow. It happened in the year 1109 when the boy, grazing the cows in the meadow, made the discovery at the foot of a box plant while looking for the herd’s bull. In that very spot the sanctuary was raised where, amidst meadows where the chicories flower upon the arrival of spring and where the haughty Cadí emerges, the image which is known as the Mare de Déu de Bastanist is venerated. There is written documentation which tells us of some contributions made in favour of Santa Maria de Bastanist in the year 1322. This place, however, has suffered many ills through the times, among which the most notorious is the pillaging of the sanctuary by French troops at the end of the 18th and the beginning of the 19th Century, as well as the destruction and burning of the original image of the Virgin during the Spanish Civil War in 1936. The reforms which it has undergone throughout its history (one of them in 1704) changed the original appearance of the temple. That which was carried out in 1949, after the destruction of the above-mentioned civil war, uncovered the original Romanesque construction. There is no doubt that visiting Bastanist, at the foot of the majestic sierra del Cadí, is a special occasion. It can be reached by car. It is a dependence of the municipality of Montellà i Martinet, where one must call to ask for the key to the sanctuary. Source and photographic archive: JOAN BELLMUNT I FIGUERAS
Starting out from Bellver de Cerdanya (la Cerdanya - Spain) the visitor should head in the direction of Guardiola de Berguedà (Cadí tunnel), but shortly after leaving Bellver turn left towards the villages of Prats and de Sansor, which, in spite of being two settlements, form a single municipality. One of the first mentions of the site of Prats dates from the year 1086. The parish church of Sant Serni was sacked by the men of count Ramon Roger de Foix and Arnau de Castellbò, at the end of the 12th Century. The church retains features of the Romanesque period, both in its walls and in the door’s ironwork, where original elements of Romanesque tradition and others from later periods are mixed. In the southwest of the municipality, at the top of a hill (1,240 m), overlooking the barranc (gully) of Torrelles and the spring of the Pastoret, not very far from the coll de Saig, is the sanctuary of Sant Salvador de Predanies, Romanesque (11th and 12th Century), with a plain semicircular apse. Somewhat modified in the 18th Century, it was restored in the early 1960’s, and the new altar was consecrated by the abbot Escarré of the monastery of Montserrat in 1963. The church, a small building with a fine shortened silhouette, was assaulted and sacked by the men of the count Ramon Roger de Foix and the viscount Arnau de Castellbò, in the political-religious struggles that devastated la Cerdanya. The temple’s interior conserves a fine barrel vault. On the outside, an attractive belfry-type belltower stands out in the wall which holds the doorway to the temple’s interior. From this place, besides the sanctuary which is worth a visit in itself, a beautiful panorama can be enjoyed. Source and photographic archive: JOAN BELLMUNT I FIGUERAS
The village of Talló is situated at an altitude of 1,060 metres, to the south of Bellver de Cerdanya (La Cerdanya - Spain). The traveller arriving here is pleasantly surprised by the sight of the large Romanesque church of Santa Maria de Talló (12th Century, the apse perhaps from the mid-11th Century) and a square bell tower, which tradition recounts had held a bell cast in 1511, which had such a loud ring that it could be heard from Puigcerdà. But the greatest beauty which the traveller will encounter is the image of the Mare de Déu de Talló, a carving which managed to escape the destruction of 1936. Tradition recounts that in the 7th Century of our era a Visigoth count called Toló, whose domains included Baridà and lower Cerdanya, built a chapel in honour of the Annunciation in the place now occupied by Talló, and its surroundings were populated with shepherds’ huts, constituting a new and pacific village. As with other Pyrenean churches, the first documentary evidence featuring the parish of Talló is the act of consecration of the cathedral of Urgell, and it appears at the forefront of the parishes of la Cerdanya, which demonstrates its importance. In the act, it is the only church of la Cerdanya which features with its title. All of this indicates that, well into the 10th Century, the church of Talló played a very important role among the churches of la Cerdanya. In the year 890 it had established a canon, and its dean governed the parish independently of the bishopric of Urgell, which gave rise to the legend of the existence of an ancient monastery in Talló. The presence of a clerical community is more clearly confirmed thanks to the document of endowment of Santa Maria de Talló dating from the year 1098. In the 13th Century Talló lost its pre-eminence within the Baridà when Nuno Sanç founded the fortified villa of Bellver in December 1225, which granted important privileges. In the middle of the 19th Century the church became a rural parish, and above all a Marian sanctuary, where gatherings are held on the 15th August and the 8th September. On Easter Monday another gathering is held, the most important and the most celebrated by all the inhabitants of Bellver, that of the Mare de Déu de Talló. The image is a fine Romanesque seated carving from the 13th Century. It was restored during the 19th Century. Accessible by car, the church is a place that must be visited. The key must be asked for in the tourism office in the Bellver Town Hall. Source and photographic archive: JOAN BELLMUNT I FIGUERAS
