Santuari del Tallat, Gothic church sanctuary in Vallbona de les Monges, Spain.
Santuari del Tallat is a ruined Gothic sanctuary and former priory on a 787-metre hill in the Serra del Tallat, within Vallbona de les Monges. Its rectangular stone building, nearly finished by 1509, had a north gallery of seven pointed arches and a church rebuilt in 1804–1805. The white stone silhouette is visible from across the Urgell, Segarra and Conca de Barberà.
Documented in 1081 as a defensive tower, the site later became a hermitage. The present sanctuary was nearly finished by 1509, promoted by the lord of Solivella with support from King Ferdinand II, who visited the works in 1493 and ceded it to Poblet Monastery that same year. Monks served it until 1822, when exclaustration led to abandonment and ruin.
The Virgin of the Tallat is a marble figure just over a palm high, standing and holding the Child in her left hand, crowned with precious stones. It was found, by tradition, by a shepherd from Rocallaura and is now kept in the parish church of Sant Llorenç in Rocallaura, where a chapel for it was inaugurated on 2 September 1900. Neighbouring villages still make processions and pilgrimages to the sanctuary at Pentecost.
Access is by a 3.2 km asphalted track off the LP-2335, the turn-off from the C-14 between Belltall and Solivella, on the Cister Route. The sanctuary stands at 787 m on the Serra del Tallat, on the border of Urgell and Conca de Barberà. The church area has been consolidated with iron and glass frames; the ruins are still being stabilised, so some parts may be closed off.
The 1081 document calls the site a defence tower of the Tallat before it became a hermitage, so the military origin is recorded rather than visible in the stone. The image of the Virgin, a marble figure little more than a palm high, is kept in the parish church of Sant Llorenç in Rocallaura, not at the sanctuary.
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