Abbey of Saint-Martin-du-Canigou

A medieval count's atonement created a Benedictine monastery that persisted for eight centuries, fell to ruin, was restored, and now houses a new religious community. The story spans a millennium of mountain devotion.

Count Guifred II of Cerdanya was the grandson of Wilfred the Hairy, founder of the Catalan nation, and the elder brother of Abbot Oliba of Saint-Michel-de-Cuxa. His family was powerful; his own power was considerable. And then, sometime before 1005, he became responsible for his son's death.

The records do not specify the circumstances—only that atonement was required and that Guifred chose the most demanding form. Between 1005 and 1009, he built an abbey on Mount Canigou's flank, in a location so inaccessible that the construction itself was a kind of penance. The first consecration occurred in November 1009.

The abbey prospered. Pilgrims came. The church was completed in the Romanesque style that would influence the region. And in 1035, Guifred completed his transformation. He renounced his title and became a monk in the monastery he had founded, spending his final fifteen years in prayer and silence. He died in 1050.

The Benedictines maintained the abbey for eight centuries. The Revolution brought dissolution; the buildings fell to ruin. In 1902, the Bishop of Perpignan acquired the site and began restoration, a process that continued through 1932. Since 1988, the Community of the Beatitudes has continued monastic presence.