Santa Maria de Siurana, Romanesque church in Siurana, Cornudella de Montsant, Spain

Santa Maria de Siurana is a Romanesque church in Cornudella de Montsant with a single nave under a slightly pointed barrel vault and a plain semicircular apse. Its south wall has a portal with three archivolts around a sculpted tympanum of Christ crucified, the sun, the moon, two lions and eight apostles under arches; five are named by inscription: Philip, Andrew, Paul, James and Thomas. The walls are ten palms thick, and a large rose window was added later on the south wall.

Built between the 12th and 13th centuries after Ramon Berenguer IV's troops took the area in 1154, the church is first documented in a bull of Pope Anastasius IV dated 25 March 1154. Siurana had been the last major Muslim stronghold on Catalonia's eastern frontier, conquered in 1153–1154; remains of the castle of the wali Almira Alemoni survive nearby.

The wooden Virgin, 98 cm tall, is a copy of the image stolen in 1979. Known as the Virgin of the Water, she was invoked by six villages—Cornudella, Poboleda, La Morera, Arbolí, Albarca and Febró—which climbed in procession to pray for rain and good harvests.

The site sits on a hillside location outside the main village, so plan it as a separate visit. Expect uneven terrain and varying weather conditions at the elevated position.

The venerated image is a 98 cm polychrome wood carving, but it is a copy: the original was stolen in 1979. Look for the seated Virgin with the child on her knees in the small shrine chamber inside the church.