The history of Catalonia: the city of Ripoll and the Romanesque monastery of Santa Maria

The history of Catalonia: the city of Ripoll and the Romanesque monastery of Santa Maria

The first mentions of the presence of people in Ripoll belong to the Bronze Age (1500-600 BC). This information refers to small, disparate settlements near the Ter and Freser rivers, surrounded by mountains. The findings of bronze objects and tools confirm these assumptions.

In the IX century, residents of the surrounding areas began to concentrate around the place that today is called the city of Ripoll. The initiator of the settlement in this area was Count Wilfred the Hairy (Guifré el Pelós) (840-897).

This historical character of French origin, considered one of the fathers of the Catalan nation, founded in 879 the Romanesque monastery of Santa Maria. The monastery was governed by a community of monks on the orders of St. Benedict. The first head of the monastic community was Abbot Oliba, whose name is associated with the main stages of the formation of the monastery as the center of lands in the area of Ripoll. These works were closely associated with the increase in the political, economic and jurisdictional power of the monastery in Catalonia.

For the sake of their security, the Ripolians settled near the monastery, which built a wall in the XIV century in order to guarantee peace for the population and not to be attacked from the outside. Security, as well as the construction of a water channel from the Fraser River, provoked the development of trade in the region. The water channel became the most powerful economic engine for the population and contributed to the development of industries such as iron processing, weaving, and woodworking.

In 1428, however, the monastery and its walls suffered serious damage as a result of an earthquake. The restoration of the monastery, which took place in the 15th century, led to the appearance of arches and vaults already in the Gothic style. However, the structure of the church has not been changed.

The city itself continued to develop beyond the destroyed walls of the monastery, when two new districts and new quarters appeared. And the precipice on the other side of the river Ter, formed as a result of the earthquake, was chosen by the abbot Climent Mai in 1573 as the site for the construction of the first Ripoll hospital.

Despite the fact that the population respected the monastery, confrontations between the monastery and the villagers, who in one way or another wanted to get rid of economic control and pressure from the abbey, were not uncommon in that era.

This situation was exacerbated by the consequences of military conflicts. First of all, we are talking about the so-called Spanish-French War of the Reapers 1640-1659 (Guerra dels Segadors) and the presence of French troops in the territory of Ripoll.

During the 16th and 18th centuries, Ripoll experienced rapid economic growth, in particular, thanks to the manufacturing of firearms (cannons, muskets). This fact made Ripoll one of the main weapon centers of both Spain and all of Europe.

In parallel, the city developed textile production, a chocolate factory appeared, and mills were built for the production of flour. This situation persisted until the beginning of the XIX century. During the War of Independence (1808-1814), the French often attacked Ripoll. The walls of the city suffered serious damage.

More