Sant Quirze de Colera monastery, Benedictine monastery in Rabós, Spain

Sant Quirze de Colera is a Benedictine monastery in Rabós with a basilical church of three naves, a transept and three semicircular apses facing east. The central nave and crossing have barrel vaults, while the side naves and apses have quarter-sphere vaults. The central apse is larger and opens through a double stepped arch; the south apse was later modified with a depressed arch. A rectangular chapel with a pointed vault was added between the central and south apses. The walls combine opus spicatum with small squared stones.

The monastery is documented from the 9th century: Count Gausbert of Empúries ceded the land in 927, and Bishop Guigo of Girona consecrated the rebuilt church in 935. A second consecration in 1123 placed it under Saints Quirze, Andrew and Benedict. In 1592 it was united with Sant Pere de Besalú, and in 1835 the community was dissolved; General Ramon Nouvilas bought the property, whose descendants sold it to Rabós town council in 1994 for 1,000 pesetas.

The monastery's name links it to Saints Quirze, Andrew and Benet, to whom the church was dedicated in a second consecration in 1123 by Bishop Berenguer Dalmau of Girona, with the bishop of Carcassonne present. The dedication reflects the abbey's ties across the Pyrenees, and the names are recalled in the site's identity today.

The monastery sits about 6 kilometers from Rabós town center and can be reached by foot or by vehicle. Visitors should expect uneven terrain and wear appropriate footwear to explore the grounds safely.

The cloister's surviving west gallery has four double-arched openings, not the full original layout. Nearby, anthropomorphic tombs found in the refectory during restoration point to an earlier medieval occupation of the site, possibly as early as the 8th century.