Boí Valley, set in the northwest of the Catalan province of Lleida, conserves within it a treasure of incalculable value, one of the most important architectural artistic heritages of Romanesque art in the world.
In 2000, the UNESCO declared nine of these religious temples World heritage sites of the Humanity.
Coll
This small village set at 1,180 meters of altitude is where we can find the parochial Church of Santa Maria, which dates back to the 12th century and is located in the suburbs of the village.
Iran
It is set a bit more north and to the east. It is a town of only eleven inhabitants which possesses a small church of an single nave dedicated to San Clemente.
Barruera
This is the capital of Boí Valley, with a little more than six hundred inhabitants, where Sant Feliu's Parochial Church can be visited. This church dates back to the XI-XII centuries and is located close to the river Tor. It preserves a four floor square tower with semicircular openings instead of windows.
Durro
It is a small village with few inhabitants set at 1.386 meters of altitude, which typifies the charm of the Pyrenean villages (stone houses with the typical picturesque mountains in the background). There you will have the opportunity to visit the Church of Santa Maria of the Nativity. It is a temple from the 12th century that has a baroque altarpiece from the 18th century. It also has a spectacular five floor bell tower with a square shaped floor.
Erill la Vall
This town is located on the hillside of Erill's peak (2.516 meters), where it is possible to visit the Church of Holy Eulalia, a building of a single nave covered with wooden beams and a slate ceiling of Lombard style. Its entrance has a porch with round arches. On the inside, there is a baptismal font of the 11th century, as well as an altar support of the 12th century, which is carved from only one block of stone.
Boí
It is a village where one finds the Church of San Juan, and it can be a good starting point before visiting Aigüestortes's National Park and San Mauricio's Lake.
The church is a temple of Lombard Romanesque style from the 11th century that possesses a floor structure and a bell tower from the 12th century.
Its interior keeps a few reproductions of wall paintings of the XIth and XIIth century, copies of the original ones which are in the National Museum of Art of Catalonia (MNAC) in Barcelona.
Taüll
Here we find two Romanesque treasures: the Church of Santa Maria and San Clemente's Church. The former is inside the town and is a building of three naves, a central one and two lateral ones with round arches. It has one five floor bell tower.
The latter is considered to be the work that better represents Catalan Romanesque for the famous picture of Christ from the Middle Ages which can found on its apse. This one is just a copy since the original one has been taken to the MNAC in Barcelona.