There is no doubt that Guimerā (L'Urgell - Spain) is one of the most attractive villages to arriving walkers with its treasure of doorways, walls, artistic windows, streets with fine arches and the whole structure itself, reason for its declaration as a historic-artistic monument on the 20th June 1975.

The sanctuary of la Bovera is located on the top of a hill at an altitude of 590m, from where the view is exceptional. The temple’s present faįade bears the mark of the renovation carried out in the 18th Century, while inside the ancient 12th Century Romanesque cloisters of the Cistercian monastery are found. Two different constructions can be seen: the building on the right as seen from the front is the sanctuary, while that on the left is the hermitage.

A noteworthy element of the interior architecture is a series of Romanesque arches held up by columns with capitals, on which are inscribed the shields of the Alemany family, lords of Guimerā, and the cross of Sant Benet, typical of the Cistercian.
A document dating from 1215 reveals that in the year 1195 the sanctuary of la Bovera already existed and that it had been founded by the knight Pere de Tārrega, and that his daughter Eliardis was its abbess in 1215.

At the beginning of the 13th Century there was therefore a community of Cistercian nuns in la Bovera dependent on the monastery of Vallbona. In virtue of the decree of Gregorio IX on the 7th March 1237 they went to reside in Vallsanta, a monastery which is now in ruins at the foot of la Bovera, next to the river.

One noteworthy valuable work of the sanctuary of la Bovera is an altarpiece representing Marian themes, work of Francesc Oliveres (1481), composed of nine painted panels and conserved in the Diocesian Museum of Vic; there is also an altarpiece from the parish of Guimerā painted by Ramon de Mur (15th Century), known as the master of Guimerā, also deposited in the same museum.

The celebration is held on the first Saturday in September, moved from the 8th, festivity of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary, starting with three trips around the hermitage before entering. Access from Guimerā is very good. The key must be requested in the village.

Source and photographic archive: JOAN BELLMUNT I FIGUERAS

Regardless of the season, whether spring, summer, autumn or winter, when the visitor rounds the last bend in the road he will be offered the view, harboured and embraced by the greyish soil, of the small and pretty village of Vallbona de les Monges (L'Urgell - Spain).

The first visual impact is offered by the monastery. The clear sound of the bell rings out and like a freed bird it seems to fly upwards until embracing and fading into a blue sky; a sky which is intense, picturesque and capable on its own of filling and intoxicating with peace any sensitive spirit that reaches here. The nuns join in the enjoyment of this music, and their singing cuts through the evening and morning airs. In Vallbona everything takes on a new, almost unknown, dimension, which makes this place a haven of peace for thirsty spirits.
The female monastery of Vallbona forms, with Poblet and Santes Creus, the trilogy of the great Cistercian monasteries.

The monastery of Santa Maria de Vallbona has its origins in mixed groups of hermits who lived under the spiritual guidance of Ramon de Vallbona. The earliest report from this period dates back to the year 1153. In 1157 the monastic church of Santa Maria already existed, and there community life observed the rule of San Benet and was incorporated into the Cistercian order.

The municipality of Vallbona de les Monges is the typical case of the village that comes into being under the shelter of a monastery, as a consequence of the Council of Trento (1545-1563) and the decree which arose from it called "Decretum de regularibus et monialibus", which did not allow female monasteries to be situated in remote places. Hence the community of nuns invited the inhabitants of Montesquiu —which was abandoned— to come and found a municipality beside the monastic enclosure, for which they were given the monastery’s best lands and dependencies. In this way the village of Vallbona, came to be, and that is also why it is called "de les Monges" (of the nuns). The first village council was constituted in 1573.

Vallbona de les Monges, with the Romanesque doorway of the convent’s church and its relief of Santa María; with its pointed arches in some of the village streets; with the Mare de Déu del Claustre; with the sight of the church’s dome, in which one can see the transition from the Romanesque to the Gothic; with the monastery’s cloisters, where one finds Romanesque and Gothic elements, and with its religious community, has become a place of silence, and of peace, unique in the lands of Lleida.
There is good access and parking. Accommodation is available at the convent.

Source and photographic archive: JOAN BELLMUNT I FIGUERAS

Halfway along the road to Talladell at Tārrega (L'Urgell - Spain) is the sanctuary of the Pedregal (today completely renovated by the Consell Comarcal de l’Urgell), where once stood the ancient Cistercian abbey of Santa Maria del Pedregal, founded around the year 1176 by the Anglesola family, and where a community of 13 nuns arrived from Vallbona in order to lead a religious life.

During the 13th Century it received numerous donations, which permitted its growth and the construction of a hostel annexed to the monastery, with the purpose of accommodating the pilgrims, walkers and visitors arriving there. In spite of the properties and goods (it received many privileges from the royal family and the Cardona, among others), the community was never very numerous. The 13th Century was the period of its maximum splendour.

In the year 1604, after a century of decadence, the Cistercian abbot ordained the fusion of the houses of the Pedregal and Sant Hilari of Lleida. Previously, in the year 1589, the Pedregal had housed the community of Vallsanta de Guimerā. Now the nuns would have to leave for Lleida. However, the inhabitants of Tārrega and the local authorities were not indifferent to the nuns having to abandon the Pedregal. They tried to impede their departure, even offering the alternative of transferring the nuns to live inside the town of Tārrega, whereby they would not have to leave and would be safe. They offered them a place in the street of Santa Anna, but were unable to halt the exodus of the nuns to Lleida. It is known that the nuns themselves felt uncomfortable and displaced in Lleida, as they wrote from there in the year 1605 asking the councillors for their protection to return to the Pedregal. They did not return ...

The monastery deteriorated little by little. In the late 18th Century a considerable part of its structure was still standing. It was constantly pillaged, to the point that in 1761 its stones were auctioned off. To cap it all, in 1874 the flooding of Santa Tecla carried away the four stones that still remained.

Today, the sanctuary-hermitage stands very close to that place, built in the year 1875 reutilising, with care and good taste, architectural elements of the original Cistercian monastery. In the doorway the visitor’s attention is caught by the coat of arms of the houses of Barcelona, Cardona and Anglesola, the families that had been generous to the monastery.

Inside there is a 180 cm tall virgin sculpted out of local sandstone, in the Gothic style (14th Century although some say from the end of the 13th Century). Made of a single piece, with the Child seated on her arm, her face is drawn into a sweet smile as she waits, patiently, for a passer-by to pause along the way.
There are good parking facilities. The rector of El Talladell is in charge of the hermitage and has the key.

Source and photographic archive: JOAN BELLMUNT I FIGUERAS