E02 Santa Maria i el serrat de la Moixera

Santa Maria de Cóll is a Romanesque church in

Cóll Cóll ( es, Coll) is a village in the province of Lleida, in Catalonia, Spain. It lies in the valley and municipality of Vall de Boí The Vall de Boí () is a narrow, steep-sided valley and a small municipality in the province of Lleida, in th ...

in the municipality of

Vall de Boí The Vall de Boí () is a narrow, steep-sided valley and a small municipality in the province of Lleida, in the autonomous community of Catalonia, northern Spain. It lies in the northeastern corner of the comarca of Alta Ribagorça, on the edges ...

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...

, Spain. It was consecrated in the year 1110. It became a Bien de Interés Cultural site in 1992, and in 2000 it was declared part of the Vall de Boí

UNESCO World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

Description

The church is located at a height of in the village of Coll. It is thought to have been built in the 12th century. Its nave, which is not flanked with aisles, is covered with

barrel vault A barrel vault, also known as a tunnel vault, wagon vault or wagonhead vault, is an architectural element formed by the extrusion of a single curve (or pair of curves, in the case of a pointed barrel vault) along a given distance. The curves are ...

ing reinforced by two arches supported by columns without capitals. At the eastern end, there is a semi-circular

apse In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an ''exedra''. In ...

. A quadrangular bell tower with a steeple stands against the south façade. On the north side, there is a chapel with a barrel vault which, together with the chapel on the south side gives the impression of a

transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform ("cross-shaped") building withi ...

. The

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

choir at the back of the church can be reached by a staircase next to the main entrance. The exterior is decorated with a series of blind arches which surround the entire building just below the roof. An

oculus Oculus (a term from Latin ''oculus'', meaning 'eye'), may refer to the following Architecture * Oculus (architecture), a circular opening in the centre of a dome or in a wall Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Oculus'' (film), a 2013 American ...

in the western gable provides illumination. The main door at the east end is crowned with an arch supported by columns with decorated capitals. Those on the outside are decorated with plant designs while those inside have figures of men fighting with animals symbolizing the fight between good and evil. Inside the church there is a statue of Our Lady of the Rosary.

Gallery

File:Cóll, Santa Maria de l'Assumpció-PM 24221.jpg, Distant view of Santa Maria de Cóll File:StaMariaColl002.JPG, View of Santa Maria de Cóll File:StaMariaColl008.JPG, Entrance, Santa Maria de Cóll File:StaMariaColl004.JPG, Chi-Rho symbol in relief (12th century), Santa Maria de Cóll church File:E13 Santa Maria, capitells del portal d'accés.jpg, Two capitals on entry door, Santa Maria de Cóll

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Santa Maria de Coll Churches in Catalonia Romanesque architecture in Catalonia Bien de Interés Cultural landmarks in the Province of Lleida 1110 establishments in Europe Vall de Boí