Santa Coloma
(5/20/2009)
The oldest church in Andorra is Santa Coloma and it was built somewhere in the 9th or 10th century.
The Church of Santa Coloma (Click for Hi-Res)
The tower is reportedly an addition from the 12th century.
Tower detail (Click for Hi-Res)
Tower Detail 2 (Click for Hi-Res)
Tower Detail 3 (Click for Hi-Res)
Marker at Santa Coloma (Click for Hi-Res)
The church actually has a stone roof as you can see here.
More detail of stone roof
Unfortunately photographs were not permitted inside as it is still used as a church today.
The church was looted during World War 2 and the frescoes were chiseled from the walls and taken by the Nazis. Fortunately, a large wood-carved shrine was pressed against the wall at the front of the church. When it was moved later, a hidden sanctuary was behind the shrine and some of the frescoes were preserved where it rested against the wall.
I have found an image on the Internet of the church interior here:
Hi-Res Image of Santa Coloma Interior with partial fresco
(The white creature at the peak of the fresco is a lamb.)
Wow, this is just a gorgeous church! Great photos too. Hopefully you have more!
By Patrick on May 20, 2009 8:21 pm
Hmm. I’m just seeing this blog for some reason. Wacky.
The church frescoes are gorgeous! And the church is as well. Thanks for posting them.
That is a shame the Nazis chiseled them off. I assume they took them back to Germany somewhere? (Where we possibly bombed them or the Soviets got them at the end of the war?) Artifacts from the Middle Ages really took it on the chin in the war.
By Rhiannon on May 26, 2009 3:35 am
I seem to remember something about Andorra trying to sue the Germany to get the Frescoes back from a museum in Berlin, but my memory isn’t exactly reliable in this regard.
By puck on May 27, 2009 12:19 am