Monestir benedictí Sant Feliu de Guíxols
Monastery · Girona
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The Benedictines chose this bay in the first half of the 10th century for reasons a sailor would recognise: a good natural harbour, hills close behind to flee into when a raid came off the sea, Roman buildings already standing to be put back to use, and the memory of the martyrdom of Saint Felix of Africa. The Romanesque complex first appears in the record around the year 961 and has been remodelled many times since. Its Porta Ferrada became the symbol of the town.
The round Torre del Fum, the Smoke Tower, gave the monastery a lookout: from its height defenders could see attackers coming from a distance, whether Arab raiders, rival nobles' men or later French armies. The square Torre del Corn, the Horn Tower, worked differently, its top floor built for defenders to shelter and fire through arrow-slits at anyone who reached the walls. The Torre del Fum itself stands on the remains of a Roman mausoleum, the site's first place of worship before the Benedictine community took it over. Beyond defense, the monastery controlled farming across the surrounding region under its feudal authority. Declared a Bien de Interés Cultural landmark in 1931, the complex now houses the town's history museum.
Practical
- Hours
- Mo-Fr 08:30-20:00
Hours per OpenStreetMap, may be outdated.
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