“The monk should not seek comforts, but live with the necessary austerity that fosters his dedication to God.”
With this will, as indicated by the rule of Saint Benedict, a group of Cistercian monks laid the first stone of the Monastery of Santes Creus in the year 1160. A life of cloister, praise to God, simplicity, community and manual work; this is how they lived for years and years. What the brothers of the congregation did not know is that, centuries later, that majestic building would become one of the most symbolic monuments in Catalonia, a cradle of legends and national history, which opens its doors so that you can discover all its secrets!
On the banks of the Gaià River, a fertile and bucolic environment, stands the solid, austere and elegant temple, with spaces such as the Gothic cloister and the chapter house that allow us to delve into the day-to-day life of monastic life. How did they live? What was their relationship with God like? How did they organize themselves to be self-sufficient? Was it easy to lead such an austere life? Step inside the walls of the monastery and find the answer!
Such was the prestige of Santes Creus, that great figures of Catalan royalty and nobility chose its soil for their eternal rest. Peter the Great, Blanca d’Anjou, James II the Just, Roger de Llúria… All of them accompanied by very anecdotal stories! Discover why the tomb of Peter the Great could never be desecrated while the tomb of Blanca d’Anjou was not only opened, but a group of vandals walked her mummy around the monastery to end up throwing it into a well in the area; or also discover why Roger de Llúria asked to be buried at the feet of Peter the Great.
Inside the church, next to the sarcophagi, you will find audiovisual material from 2010, when a group of archaeologists restored the funerary structures and reconstructed the body of Blanca d’Anjou. A precision task that fascinates everyone who observes it.
The building has been uninhabited for decades and in 1989 it was integrated into the new tourist brand La Ruta del Cister, which proposes an entire itinerary of activities around the three Cistercian monasteries in the area: Santes Creus (Alt Camp), Poblet (Conca de Barberà) and Vallbona de les Monges (Urgell). Currently, it hosts various cultural activities and can be visited by everyone, with a guide or freely.
If you are a lover of the aura of mystery and curiosity that awakens the medieval world, this is your ideal place!
