Vall de Boi

Though Hubert's review is over a decade old, it was the most recent one written before my May 2025 trip to Vall de Boi and I have to say, not much has changed. In fact, Hubert's review is quite comprehensive and I recommend giving it a read before reading my own here. I'll try and fill in any gaps.

Yes, this high concentration of churches were constructed by the Lords of Erill, though as the attendant at the one of the churches told us, it was not for religious piety that the lords constructed the buildings but rather to establish a particular small territory as their own during the constant conquerings and re-conquerings between the local leaders during that period.

In our visit to Vall de Boi, because it is so remote and takes so much effort to get to (we rented a car from Barcelona) there were very few other tourists, leading to the sense of peace and serenity that other reviewers have described. It's practically just you and the majestic mountains, deep in the heart of the Pyrenees. (Though Els' review makes me wonder if it used to be more popular.) We only saw one proper "tour group" in our time in the Valley, and they all arrived on a bus at the same time as we did to flood the seats of the "audiovisual" projection show in Sant Climent de Taüll. (Which, while not amazing, is still pretty neat and worth seeing.)

Eagle-eye …

The Vall de Boi is a narrow valley in the Pyrenees and is best known for its nine Romanesque churches. The high density of pure Romanesque architecture far away from big cities and major trading routes, their location in a rural setting and the picturesque mountain scenery are the characteristics of this WHS.

The rulers of the valley, the Lords of Erill, became rich by trading with silver and they have spent part of their wealth for the construction of churches and their decoration with wonderful murals. However, the murals were removed at the beginning of the 20th century to prevent theft and destruction, they are now kept in museums, the most important murals are in the National Museum of Art of Catalonia in Barcelona (MNAC). The churches in Taüll and Boi show some faithful replicas. The murals depict saints and apostles, scenes from the Bible, and also mythical creatures and animals: a camel or an elephant with tusks on the head.

We started our visit at the Centre del Romànic in Erill la Vall. The interpretation centre provides information about the history of the churches and the murals. You can also buy a combined ticket for the three churches in Boi, Taüll and Eril la Vall. A fourth church, Santa Maria in Taüll, can be visited free of charge, the others are not regularly open to individual visitors.

The largest church in the valley is Sant Climent de Taüll, it also has the most striking architecture with three naves …

The picturesque setting of these churches, their lean towers contrasting against the backdrop of the Pyrenees, is the strongest point of this WHS. Most of the villages they belong to have a nice medieval feel to them too. Unfortunately, the original murals have all been taken away (“preserved”) to museums in bigger Catalan cities such as Barcelona.

I visited 5 churches, and after that felt I had seen enough of them. In my opinion, the two in Taüll are the most impressive. The large Sant Climent church is visually striking, it makes you want to take more and more pictures. It also is a very popular destination, my arrival coincided with a large tour bus. We all strolled uphill through the touristy streets of Taüll, to the Santa Maria church. It lies in an enclosed area at the town’s plaza, and although it doesn’t look much from the outside the restored murals here are very fine.

I had stayed overnight in Erill la Vall. Here I visited the Information Center of the Boí Valley. A video is shown that gives you a feel for how and why these peculiar churches came into existence, and why here. I guess these Catalan pilgrims were just jealous of the art and architecture they saw in Rome and the north of Italy and wanted to take something of it with them home. This resulted in the “import” of Lombard builders and craftsmen.

I visited this WHS in May 2014. It consists of series of 9 Catalan Romanesque Churches scattered in the Vall de Boi. The location of these churches in the high Pyrenees makes them very picturesque although quite difficult to visit without a car. However, if you decide to drive, bear in mind that you will be driving in countless hairpins, narrow roads and mountain passes for most of the time. Online I found a very good brochure of this WHS from the Centre Romanic in Erill la Vall (http://www.centreromanic.com/churches-opening-times-2014/fitxers/llibret_romanic_07_angles.pdf) with pointers on each church. Since I was driving from the Ordesa Valley, I decided to start with the Church in Coll. This is quite different from the rest of the churches and its main highlight is its carved entrance. To get to it I had to drive for 2.5km in a VERY narrow road (although paved) and since I arrived quite early in the morning I disturbed at least 5 deer along the way so I had to be extra careful and drive slowly to be on the safe side. Unfortunately this church together with the ones in Cardet, Barruera and Durro are usually closed unless there is a group of at least 20 people that make a request in advance to visit them. They don't have frescoes inside anymore although they contain colourful altarpieces. The church in Cardet and the Ermitage de Sant Quirc in Durro are quite similar and both are located at an altitude of 1600-2000m. I …

This was my favourite WHS on the Iberian Peninsular. The churches and their locations were spectacular, and the interior frescoes stunningly beautiful.

I started out from Poble de Segur and took the bus to Barruera via Pont de Suert. This bus arrived in time to catch the Traginer, a local minibus that visits the villages of Taull, Boi and Val de Erill. In the course of a day I visited the four churches in those villages, thanks to the driver of the Traginer who allowed me to get on and off at will. Finally I visited the church of St Feliu in Barruera before catching the bus back to Poble de Segur.

The Val de Boi gave me such a happy week in 2004. Taüll was the perfect place to stay, with two of the most sublime Romanesque churches, maintained in truly wonderful condition, just a few metres from my locanda. It was very peaceful throughout, with a natural alternation between visiting churches (mostly each late afternoon) and walking and scrambling through glorious scenery in the local National Park. Catalunya has maintained at least 8 of these astonishing buildings (almost all built around 1185-1215) really well; and they are often in truly striking, beautiful locations. See for yourself one of the Wonders of the Pyrenees !

The romanasque churches are really beautiful, and deserve a visit since they are located inside a quiet and pure geographic region near Pyrenees. Some frescoes were removed in order to be preserved and can be seen in the MNAC museum in Barcelona.

The northern regions of Aragón and Catalunya provinces are one of my favourite places in Europe, full of well-preserved small and old villages, some keeping old castles.