On the northern slope of the Verdera mountain, at the foot of the ruins of the castle of Sant Salvador, which once protected it, stands one of the most important monastic complexes of the Catalan Romanesque: the monastery of Sant Pere de Rodes (or de Roda, according to some sources), from which you can see the wild landscapes of Cap de Creus. Its exact origin is unknown. There are various founding legends, such as the one that claims that its seed was a hermitage erected to preserve the relics of Saint Peter, who arrived from Rome after the fall of the Roman Empire.
Judging by some marble slabs that have been found in the enclosure, it is possible that an ancient Roman settlement may have prospered on its site. However, given its geographical proximity, it cannot be ruled out that such materials were transferred from neighboring Empúries in order to be used as construction elements.
In any case, we do not have any written evidence on the existence of the monastery until 878, when a document made explicit the rivalry between the abbots of the monasteries of Sant Esteve de Banyoles and Sant Policarp de Rasès for exercising authority over a small community. monastic in Verdera. That dispute was closed two centuries later, when Sant Pere de Rodes appeared as an independent monastery under the observance of the rule of San Benito.
At that time, the enclosure was limited to a humble building, still lacking the majesty that the complex achieved from the 12th century. A slow evolution that began thanks to donations made in the 10th century by a local nobleman named Tassis, who, widowed by him in 995, entered as a monk together with his son Hildesindo. Later, the monastery would reach its zenith when it came under the protection of Count Gausfred I d’Empúries-Rosselló (900-991).
Gausfred I’s objective was to consolidate his dynasty at the head of the counties of Empúries, Peralada and Rosselló after the end of the Carolingian monarchy, and, consequently, when the link between the Catalan counties and the Frankish kingdom disappeared. Gausfred I’s domains included the current Empordà region and the French regions of Roussillon and Vallespir, a considerable extension of land and resources, protected by an important fleet, which made it possible to defend his possessions from Saracen incursions.
Obviously, at such a juncture, the strategic position of Sant Pere de Rodes over the bays of Llançà and El Port de la Selva was a not insignificant asset for detecting possible military attacks by sea. Determined to take advantage of its location, Gausfred I did not hesitate to grant the Benedictine community custody and exploitation of the lands of the castle of Sant Salvador de Verdera.
The monks also received the rights to fish in the Castelló d’Empúries pond, in the area today known as Aiguamolls de l’Empordà, and the income obtained from the population center of Santa Creu de Rodes, a village in the vicinity of the monastery whose The only mission was to cover the needs of the monastery and of which some vestiges are still preserved today.
Upon his death, Gausfred I divided the county between his sons Hugo I (965-1040), to whom he granted ownership of Empúries and Peralada, and Guislabert (c. 970-1013), to whom he bequeathed that of Rosselló. The division of the county did not seem to affect, in principle, the monastery, which remained under the authority of Hugo I. However, the new count, faced with the military expense implied by the continuous confrontations with his brother for the possession of Roussillon, did not take long to change criteria.
Hugo I not only suspended all donations to the Benedictines, but also usurped part of their land. By then, the foundations of the monumental Romanesque church had already been laid and the lower cloister had been remodeled, with the idea of ??building a larger one that would accommodate an increasingly numerous community.
Given the critical situation, in 1021, Abbot Pere, at that time the highest authority of the monastery, sent two of his monks to Rome, in order to obtain from Pope Benedict VIII a bull that would safeguard the monastic possessions from greed. of the nobility Obliged by obedience to the pontiff, the count of Empúries renounced the usurped lands and resumed the policy of donations.
Thus began the period of greatest splendor of the monastery. On the death of Hugo I, his son Ponç I (1040-1078), the new count, made a donation of land on the occasion of the entry as a friar of his offspring, and the authority of the abbots was consolidated thanks to successive bulls of the pontiffs.
One of them, issued by Urban II in 1088, authorized the monastery to celebrate the jubilee of the Santa Creu, provided that said festivity, on May 3, fell on a Friday. The privilege was in force until 1697 and led to an extraordinary influx of pilgrims, with the consequent economic growth.
Since then, the monastery has been the backbone of the spiritual and economic life of the area. With the backing of the papacy and the generosity of the Count’s House of Empúries, Sant Pere de Rodes gradually consolidated as a Benedictine monastery and changed its appearance.
Thus, in the 12th century, the enclosure had already been fortified, the church had been built and both the upper cloister and the bell tower had been started. In turn, the great portal had been decorated by the Master of Cabestany, a renowned Languedoc sculptor, author, among other works, of the tomb of Saint Hilary in the homonymous abbey, located in the vicinity of Carcassonne.
The prosperity of the monastery lasted until the end of the 14th century. However, a certain relaxation in the customs of the monks led the counts to progressively reduce donations. Added to this was the black plague epidemic of 1345, which decimated the convent community and killed many of the inhabitants of the neighboring areas. Consequently, what was once a superb monastic complex could not assume its conservation, and the deterioration of many of its dependencies was already unstoppable.
The situation worsened significantly in the following centuries, as a consequence of the continuous warfare between France and Spain, and culminated in the looting suffered during the War of the Spanish Succession by the armies of Marshal Anne-Jules de Noailles (1650-1708). , which appropriated, among other valuable pieces, the so-called Rodes Bible, the most notable manuscript of the monastic library, today in the National Library of France.
Shortly after, in 1798, the community withdrew to Vila-sacra, on the banks of the Manol River, and, in 1818, to Figueres. From that moment on, the monastery seemed to become a quarry for construction materials for the neighboring populations, which implied the loss of architectural elements as remarkable as the decoration of the Master of Cabestany.
As if that were not enough, to this was added the robbery carried out by coastal piracy and local banditry, and, of course, the abandonment of a community already physically distant from what had been its site and which ended up dissolving after the confiscation de Mendizabal in 1835.
The historicist desire of the Catalan Renaixença and the interest of the institutions to recover the artistic heritage in the first third of the 20th century rescued Sant Pere de Rodes from oblivion. In 1930, the monastery was declared a national monument thanks to the initiative of the architect Jeroni Martorell, who was director of the Monuments Conservation Service of the Ministry of Public Instruction.
Starting in 1932, work began on the recovery of the building under the responsibility of Martorell himself, although these were interrupted by the Civil War. They were resumed in 1942 with the purpose of consolidating the remains and avoiding their possible ruin.
Finally, in 1985, its status as a Historic-Artistic Monument was ratified and the restoration process of the complex began, revealing its Romanesque structure, ignoring other contributions after the 15th century, of which only a few vestiges survived, and promoting excavations. archaeological sites both in the monastery itself and in the surrounding areas, which included the castle of Sant Salvador de Verdera and what was once a residential area of ??Santa Creu de Rodes. The works concluded under the responsibility of the Generalitat de Catalunya.
In 1988, when the restoration was completed, the monastery became a building that can be visited, which attracts countless travelers every year, partly due to its status as a landmark on the Catalan Way of the Jacobean Route. Its reconstruction allows us to take charge of its importance.
Nowadays, Sant Pere de Rodes is an imposing and variegated set of stone that blends into the landscape, since its peculiar location made it necessary to build it adapting to the unevenness of the terrain. The remains of its wall show its status as a fortified monastery, while the multiplicity of terraces on Cap de Creus certifies its role as lookout against possible incursions by sea.
This text is part of an article published in number 665 of the Historia y Vida magazine. Do you have something to contribute? Write to us at redaccionhyv@historiayvida.com.
