Sant Serni de Vilamantells, Romanesque hermitage in Vilamantells, Guixers, Spain

Sant Serni de Vilamantells is a Romanesque hermitage of the 11th or 12th century standing at 1,045 m on a small plateau at the eastern end of the Creueta ridge. Its single rectangular nave (5.60 by 11.50 m) ends in a semicircular apse raised to the height of the gabled roof; the old cornice stones with bevelled edges sit above the raising. The walls are laid in courses of stones cut with a mallet, and the west front carries a two-opening bell gable with one bell.

Documented in 1064, when Count Ermengol III of Urgell ceded the church to the monastery of Sant Llorenç. On 16 September 1088 Ermengol IV gave it to Santa Maria de Solsona, and on 23 August 1203 the abbot of Sant Serni de Tavèrnoles returned it to the monks of Sant Llorenç and their prior Arnau Ramon. In 1297 it became the parish church of Vilamantells, a role it held until 1593, when the suppression of Sant Llorenç merged it into the parish of Guixers.

The church is also called Sant Sadurní del Grau, after Saint Saturninus, and was the parish church of Vilamantells from 1297 until 1593, when it passed to the parish of Guixers. In the walled cemetery in front of the façade, graves are marked by crosses, and a stone cross stands on a rock between the church door and the iron gate.

The building is reached by a narrow road that turns into a trail taking about half a mile to walk. The local priest holds the key and still conducts services in this quiet, out-of-the-way location.

The church stands at 1,045 m on a small plateau at the eastern end of the Creueta ridge, beside the path to the Sanctuary of Lord. Its walled forecourt is a cemetery with graves marked by crosses, and a stone cross on a rock stands between the church door and the iron cemetery gate.