Prieuré de Serrabone

Boule-d'Amont

On a ridge of the Aspres that Catalan names serra bona, the "good mountain", a parish church is mentioned as early as 1069. In 1082 a community of Augustinian canons settled there and elected its first prior; the enlarged church was consecrated in 1151 by the bishop of Elne. It is from that 12th century that the marvel of the place dates: a tribune of pink marble from Bouleternère (5.60 m wide, 4.80 m deep, 3.10 m high), serving no architectural purpose, entirely carved with the four evangelists and the paschal lamb — the most remarkable example of the art of the Catalan sculptors. The contrast between the severity of the schist outside and this flowering of marble has prompted many a question: why such splendour in so harsh a solitude? The canons left in 1612 and the priory slumbered until the visit of Prosper Mérimée in 1834, which set off a first restoration as early as 1840. Opened to the public in 1968 and acquired by the département of Pyrénées-Orientales in 1987, Serrabone remains a destination of artistic pilgrimage where one comes, at the end of a vertiginous road, to experience the meeting of the wilderness and the masterpiece.

Getting there : From the D618 Ille-sur-Têt/Amélie, take the D84 towards Boule-d'Amont; narrow mountain road, car park on site then the last 150 metres on foot. Open all year (10am–5pm out of season, 9.30am–6.30pm in summer), admission €5, guided tours at 11am and 3pm.

Opening times and access details are given as a guide only: check before you set out.

Ambient sound