Church of Sant Jaume de Frontanyà

The church of Sant Jaume de Frontanyà is the main point of interest of the homonymous mountainous village, the smallest settlement of Catalonia with only 31 inhabitants. This magnificent mid-12th century monument, declared a Asset of Cultural Interest, is a perfect architectural example of the first Catalan Romanesque, both for its great dimensions and for the harmony of the forms. The church is the only surviving building of the former Augustinian monastery secularized in 1592.

Preserved almost intact, the church has a Latin cross plan with a single nave covered with barrel vault and three semicircular apses that open in the wide transept. The very simple decoration uses Lombard ornamental elements. The crossing is covered by a dome that forms a lantern tower on the outside. On the facade we find square bell-gable.

Highlights

✔ The lantern tower, unique of this period in Catalonia, that forms a 12-sided polygon with a frieze of blind windows under the roof.
✔ The facade, with a portal formed by two rounded arches. The composition is elaborated, with six panels distributed in two levels in the manner of an altarpiece. The blind arcades and the Lombard belts constitute the only decorative elements.