Introduction:
The abbey of St. Martin du Canigou was founded at the start of the eleventh century. Begun under the patronage of Guifred Cabreta, Count of Cerdagne, around the year 1000 work began on the structure. It was intended to house a community of Benedictine monks.

The consecrations of 1009 and 1014 mark the end of two stages of the abbey's construction. The Benedictines occupied the abbey until the end of the 18th century. In 1782, the last five monks living there asked for permission to leave the abbey, and so ended the presence of that order at St. Martin. Following their departure, the abbey, then abandoned, was looted by local inhabitants. The capitals were among the valuable pieces of construction that were removed and integrated into local buildings.  It took only a few years for the abbey to fall into ruins, but as noted below, by Kenneth Conant, the barrel vault construction was so stable that most of it remained intact into modern times.

Restoration began in the 20th century and was accomplished in two stages: The first occurred from 1902 to 1932 and was undertaken by Mgr de Carsalade, Bishop of Perpignan, who acquired the ruins through purchase. Later on, beginning in 1952 and continuing until 1982, a Benedictine monk, Father Bernard de Chabannes, resumed the restoration.

Shows Lower Church Level
Source

The Cloister:
The cloister typically is designed to separate a monastery from the exterior world, being entirely enclosed so as to make a clear separation between inside and outside. From the cloister, access is available to the variety of functionary rooms, dormitory, library, infirmary, chapel, community rooms, chapter house, etc. Today, one can pass through an exterior wall on the side of the cloister and view the neighboring mountains. But originally this space (to left of illus.) was used by the library and the infirmary.

The capitals that now appear in the opening were originally intended to decorate an upper cloister, which was not reconstructed. After the abandonment of the abbey in the 18th century, the capitals were brought off the mountain and were used in local churches and private homes. Mgr de Carsalde (who piloted the first reconstruction phase) reclaimed these pieces and integrated them (as seen) into the present structure.

Three types of imagery may be observed on the capitals: Animals (primarily lions), Stylized leaves, and Allegorical scenes. [ed: The brochure offers an iconographical description of four capitals. The reader may rely on his or her own devices for matching them to the photographs.]

The sixth capital represents either the vices or, perhaps, Salomé's dance -- which preceded the beheading of John the Baptist in the court of Herod.

The eighth capital shows a monkey and a dog extending their paws as a sign of friendship. But between them, as a reminder or sign of discord is found a snake, whom the brochure author identifies as a symbol of jealousy. [ed. From the description this sounds as if it might be a monastic allegory of Adam and Eve, with the monkey and dog signifying why the sexes must remain apart.]

The eleventh capital shows a mitered abbot in the form of a demon -- who (says the author) the sculptor "satirically sends to hell," no doubt moved by some desire of revenge. Next to him is a dog stretching out his tongue, tantalized by an unapproachable dish.

The forth capital, says the author "is explicitly of Christian inspiration." On it an abbot is shown behind a piece of fabric that is decorated with heraldic devices. He is surrounded by his community.

Three tombstones are embedded in the heavy pillars of the cloister. They represent the funerals of abbots three sixteenth-century abbots who lived at the abbey.

The Church and the Crypt::
The abbey holds two early Romanesque churches, each of which should be understood as the creation of two building campaigns. The first construction stage began circa 1000, with the simultaneous erection of the lower church (also called the crypt) and the abbey church which lies superimposed above the lower church. The first consecration occurred in the year 1009. Immediately afterwards a second stage began. At this time both churches (lower and upper) were extended to the west (away from the apse). These constructions were consecrated in the year 1014.

During the first phase the lower church was built using granite columns for support. But the weight of the church above proved to be more than the granite could bear, apparently it became necessary to consolidate the crypt (by building masonry arched supports that served to close in the crypt). Thus, four of the six columns that originally held up the front of the crypt were  surrounded with stonework. By the time the crypt was added to on the west, columns were no longer employed and the vaults were set directly on stonework pillars.

The Church is the locus of all life within such a religious community. In the Church, Mass and all the offices that punctuate the day take place. Those devoted to the religious rites and beliefs believe that Christ is  truly present in the Sacrament within the tabernacle, near which a red light permanently burns as an exterior sign of the presence of the deity, Christ.

The Church Tower:
The Church Tower was completed ca. 1030, and in some respects may be taken as the end of the campaign to construct the abbey. It is thought that it originally contained four floors. In 1428 the tower was damaged by an earthquake, but [modern] rebuilding stopped at three floors for lack of funds.

The Tombs:
Two tombs are situated near the tower, opposite the north exterior wall of the upper church. These contain the graves of the Count Guifred Cabrets and his second wife, the Countess Elizabeth. In 1035 the two retired to the abbey to live out the remainder of their lives. According to tradition, says the pamphlet's author, Count Guifred dug the tombs himself. He had joined the Benedictine order and became a monk.

Today [1995]:
Since July 1988 the Abbey of St. Martin du Canigou has been inhabited by the Community of the Beatitudes (previously called the Community of the Lion of Judah and the Immolated Lamb).

The diocese of Perpignan appealed to this Catholic community in order to keep the abbey in its vocation as a retreat house to allow guests to experience the presence of God [as they say]. The community's day is divided between communal worship (Mass, offices), the adoration of the Blessed Sacrement, work, and the welcoming of guests. All are invited to attend religious services.

... Just after the year 1000 a notable example of [the] vaulted Lombardo-Catalan style was built on a picturesque spur of the huge mountain mass called the Canigou, above Prades in French Catalonia. Long-continued neglect made a restoration necessary about sixty-five years ago, but the work was well and lovingly done so that the building stands as a witness, complete in its inspiring original setting, to the architecture of that remote age. Characteristically it is a monastery ... with the austere, solidly built church and conventual quarters arranged about a small cloister. The rooms command lovely views.

A winding approach road leads to and through a splendid big tower, strategically placed and crowned with Moorish stepped battlements which break its substantial mass against the sky as happily as the characteristic pilaster strips and arched corbel tables model its ample surfaces. This tower composes beautifully with the rocky masses and with the building group; it is contiguous to the church on the north-east.

The churc is on two levels. Its crypt has tunnel vaulting with transverse arches carried on two files of grouped piers, except at the head, where there are two oblong piers and two columns carrying a set of nine groin vaults just in front of the tree apses. Beyond the west end of the church crypt there is another, which supports a platform in front of the church proper. The latter is as long as the two crypts together, and consequently the three church apses extend beyond the crypt apses, towards the east.

For its period, the superstructure of the church is a remarkable achievement. The three long tunnel vaults which cover the nave have only ten interior supports -- two sets of four columnar shafts with simply-carved capitals, separated by two grouped piers supporting arches which greatly strengthen the middle part of the building, where a tunnel vault is most likely o collapse. The tower, the lateral recesses (including a chapel with a quadrant vault), and the monastery buildings abut the high vault so well that only a fraction of it collapsed during a century's neglect of the roofing surface after the secularization and abandonment of the site in 1785.

The church interior is lighted only from the ends, which might seem to be a defect in the building -- but, in fact, many of the monastic services take place at night. Also, it was usual for the monks to know large parts of their liturgy by heart, and therefore natural light was not so important.

Clearly, Saint-Martin-du-Canigou is an excellent piece of architecture: the more so because it is of early date -- 1001 to 1009 (for a preliminary consecration) and 1026. The monk Sclua, who superintended the building, became the first abbot in 1014, apparently after a preliminary regime under Oliba, abbot of Ripoll and Cuxa, later bishop of Vich (Ausona), ...