Sant Pere de Rodes Monastery

Sant Pere de Rodes is a ruined Benedictine monastery perched high on the ridge above the Cap de Creus peninsula, a spectacular and somewhat brutal walk or drive above the coastal towns. Founded in the 9th century, it grew into one of the most powerful monasteries in Catalonia before being sacked by French forces in 1798 and subsequently abandoned. What remains is roofless but largely intact: a great Romanesque church with carved columns, a tower, cloisters, and extensive outbuildings.

The view from the monastery is one of the great panoramas of the Costa Brava: the entire Cap de Creus peninsula spreads below, the bay of Roses to the south, the Pyrenean foothills to the north, and on clear days the coast stretching into France. The walk up from the village of El Port de la Selva takes about two hours and is the most rewarding approach. A road also reaches the site from the south, if the walk is not an option.

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A story
The monastery was already old when it became wealthy enough to matter. By the 10th and 11th centuries, Sant Pere de Rodes was a major pilgrimage destination — some claimed, improbably, that the head of St. Peter was kept here, which brought enough pilgrims to fund the remarkable Romanesque church whose ruins survive today. The church's carved capitals are considered some of the finest examples of pre-Gothic Romanesque carving in Catalonia, made by craftsmen who left no other known works and have never been identified.