Santa Maria del Collet, Romanesque church in Calonge i Sant Antoni, Spain.
Santa Maria del Collet is a Romanesque church sitting on a hilltop in the Calonge plain with traditional architecture built from local stone and containing Gothic elements. The structure shows construction from different periods and was partly shaped by later renovations.
Santa Maria del Collet originated in the 12th century as a small Benedictine nuns' monastery on a hill above the Calonge plain, continuing an earlier Roman villa site called the Collet. The community, led by a prioress, lived from prayer, work and sheltering pilgrims, and held land acquired through donations and purchases. Pirate raids, plagues and floods from the Rec Madral reduced it at one point to a single nun; the buildings decayed and the land was ceded for cultivation while the community kept ownership.
The building reflects medieval features left by the Benedictine and Cistercian communities that lived and worked here. It served as shelter and lodging for pilgrims traveling through the region.
The site sits on a hilltop and can be reached on foot but has limited parking nearby. Visitors should expect a natural unpaved approach and wear sturdy footwear for the terrain.
The monastery once depended on a single nun to keep it going, and its lands were eventually leased out to tenants while the community kept ownership. The old farmhouse on the estate has been converted into a residential masia, and Calonge town council plans to restore the property as an interpretation centre for the Roman ruins of El Collet.
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