Sant Sebastià del Sull facts for kids
Sant Sebastià del Sull is an old, ruined monastery in a place called Saldes, in Catalonia, Spain. A monastery is a special building where monks used to live and pray. This one was built a very long time ago, in the 800s, in a style called Romanesque.
Over the years, the building was changed and fixed many times. After it fell apart, it was rebuilt in the 1400s. Today, it's mostly ruins. Between 1971 and 1977, a doctor named Manuel Riu Riu led digs there. These digs helped uncover special parts of the building and an important old cemetery from the Romanesque period in Catalonia.
History of the Monastery
This monastery was started by a priest named Daniel and a religious woman named Honesta. They received the land to build the monastery before the year 939. In that year, Sunifred II of Cerdanya, a count, gave more land. This helped form a religious community with an abbot (the head monk) and six monks.
The monastery grew richer and gained more land by 965. However, by the year 983, a count named Cabreta Oliva gave the monastery Sant Llorenç prop Bagà to another group. By the middle of the 1000s, monks no longer lived at Sant Sebastià del Sull.
What the Building Looked Like
The main part of the building was round in the middle, with a dome-shaped roof. On the eastern side, there was a half-circle shaped area called an apse. The church door was directly across from this apse.
The building was made from small, rough stones. These stones were placed in rows and held together with a special cement called mortar. People believe the dome roof was also made of these small stones, arranged in circles. The walls at the bottom were very thick. There was also a bench that went all the way around the inside of the building, even into the apse. At the very back of the apse, there was a narrow window, like a loophole.
See also
In Spanish: Monasterio de San Sebastián de Sull para niños
