Església de Sant Romà de les Bons, Romanesque Catholic church in Les Bons, Encamp, Andorra.
Església de Sant Romà de les Bons is a single-nave Romanesque church on a rock above the medieval ensemble of Les Bons. Its rectangular nave is covered by a barrel vault, rare in Andorran Romanesque, and ends in a semicircular apse with Lombard bands and arcading. A gable bell tower with two round-arched openings rises over a later porch, and the west door carries a sawtooth frieze.
The church is first documented in a concordat of 1162 and was consecrated on 23 January 1164, built in the central years of the 12th century. It was dedicated to Romanus of Caesarea. On 16 July 2003 it was registered in the Cultural Heritage of Andorra as a heritage property.
The church is dedicated to Romanus of Caesarea, whose feast day is 18 November. Inside, the apse murals are replicas; the originals, in two fragments of 103 × 272 cm and 166 × 342 cm, were acquired by the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya between 1919 and 1923. A 16th-century Gothic repainting and a polychrome wooden altarpiece of the patron saint also survive.
Access to the church is typically limited, but visitors can arrange visits by contacting Casa Cristo Museum in advance. It is advisable to check opening conditions ahead of time as access may vary depending on the season.
The church is the best-preserved element of the medieval ensemble of Les Bons, which also comprises a defensive tower and a water system with rock-cut channels; those structures belong to the ensemble, not to the church itself. The church stands on a rock overlooking the village.
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