A thousand years of history on one kilometre of hillside
A kilometre and a half east of La Pobla de Lillet, on a hillside of meadows, three pieces come together that explain where the village came from: a Romanesque monastery, one of the smallest round churches in Catalonia and the ruins of the castle that gave the valley its name.
Before La Pobla existed, the heart of the Lillet valley was up here. The castle watched over the road that climbed from the Berguedà towards the Cerdanya, and below it a church dedicated to Santa Maria was built that in time became a house of canons. When the lords of Mataplana founded the new town beside the Llobregat in 1297, the castle gradually emptied and the monastery slowly lost its parishioners. What remains today are those three layers of history, very close to one another.
The three points link up in a half-morning visit: you leave the car next to the monastery, walk up to the rotunda and then follow a track to the foot of the castle. The photographs are our own, taken on the ground.
Walked, measured and photographed by Josep Heras Gomis, who has a house at the masia del Pati in Borredà and explores the Serra de Catllaràs and its surroundings every season. These three points are part of his off-road route La Pobla de Lillet – Fonts del Llobregat – Serra de Catllaràs, published on Wikiloc and described in his 2018 book. The historical and heritage-listing data come from the Inventari del Patrimoni Arquitectònic de Catalunya, the Mapa de Patrimoni Cultural of the Diputació de Barcelona and the reference work Catalunya Romànica. Last revised: September 2026.
Two Santa Marias not to be confused
La Pobla de Lillet has two churches with the same name and it is easy to mix them up. The one on this page is the monastery of Santa Maria de Lillet, outside the village, at 922 metres and about 1.5 km to the east as the crow flies. The other is the parish church of Santa Maria, a Baroque building completed in 1784, at the top of the old town next to the former castle of the Mataplana family. We cover that one on the page about the old town of La Pobla de Lillet.
A very concrete story links the two. The most valuable carving in the parish church today, presiding over its altar, is the Majestat de Lillet, a Romanesque Christ in polychrome wood from the 12th century, which was originally venerated in the monastery church. When life moved down to the valley, the Christ went with it.
If you search for "Santa Maria de Lillet" on a map, check the coordinates: 42.242857, 1.993248 is the monastery; 42.244347, 1.974281 is the parish church in the village.
The three points, from the monastery to the castle
| Point | What it is | Condition | Coordinates |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monestir de Santa Maria de Lillet | Former Augustinian house of canons, 11th-century church | Standing, restored; Cultural Asset of National Interest | 42.242857, 1.993248 |
| Rotonda de Sant Miquel | Round Romanesque church | Very well preserved | 42.241678, 1.992847 |
| Castell Vell de Lillet | Castle documented in the 9th century | A stretch of wall with a window; Cultural Asset of National Interest | 42.238153, 1.988287 |
All three lie within the municipality of La Pobla de Lillet. The monastery and the rotunda are about 150 metres apart; the castle is some 700 metres to the south-west as the crow flies and almost 150 metres higher.
Monestir de Santa Maria de Lillet
The first thing you see on arrival is a stone building standing in the middle of a meadow, with a farmhouse beside it and the valley opening out behind. The doorway facing the meadow, with pointed archivolts, is not the original one: it was opened in the north arm of the transept in the Gothic period, and the Diputació's Mapa de Patrimoni Cultural links it to a new consecration in 1397.
Its documentary history is among the oldest in the country. The monastery is already named on 17 April 819 in the deed of sale of the house of Montclús, and in 833 the first church was consecrated, dedicated to Santa Maria, Sant Pere and Sant Joan "of the castle of Lillet"; that deed is one of the oldest documents in Catalonia. Shortly before 1086 a small community of Augustinian canons settled here, a prior and five canons, and it went through a period of great activity over the next two centuries.
The founding of La Pobla in 1297 changed the balance. By the middle of the 14th century the new town had its own church, and Santa Maria lost part of its parishioners and its ecclesiastical domains. Even so, the house of canons remained active until it was secularised in 1592; what remained was a community of beneficed clergy under a paborde, or provost. In 1816 the rector, two vicars and five beneficiaries still lived here, and in 1889 the rector was obliged to move to La Pobla.
The church was mostly built in the 11th century: a single nave with a wide transept, a slightly later east end with a central apse and a smaller apse to the south. Alterations continued until the 18th century, which added side chapels opened into the thickness of the walls, classical engaged columns, a choir at the west end, a vault and a lantern. That is why the building is described as a museum of periods: pre-Romanesque remains, a Lombard Romanesque nave, a Gothic doorway and tufa columns with plaster capitals from the 16th to the 18th centuries.
The community lived in the buildings on the south side, around a small, rustic cloister with four arches on each side resting on square pillars. In this area there are walls with doors and windows at heights that do not match, the result of centuries of changes, and herringbone masonry (opus spicatum) from the 10th and 11th centuries. It is listed as a Cultural Asset of National Interest.
A living tradition: on the feast of Sant Isidre a mass is held at the monastery with a blessing of small loaves, which are then handed out to everyone present.
How to get there: from La Pobla de Lillet take the B-402 road towards Ripoll, without entering the village if you are coming from the Fonts del Llobregat. After about 1 km a signposted turning on the right leads to the monastery. Follow that track to the monastery and leave the car beside it. To see the inside you need to contact the tourist office, as indicated by the La Pobla de Lillet town council.
Coordinates: 42.242857, 1.993248 · 922 m altitude · open on the map
Rotonda de Sant Miquel
From the monastery meadow you can already see it above, on top of a small hillock about 150 metres away. It is the most surprising piece of the visit: a church with an entirely circular plan and a semicircular apse attached, only 6.5 metres in external diameter and 4.7 metres inside. There are very few buildings like this in Catalonia and this is one of the smallest.
It has no windows at all. The wall is topped by a row of small stones alternating with gaps, a frieze of upright stones runs around it and the doorway is closed by a round arch of voussoirs. Inside there are two small niches and a very fine vault. The roof is made of stone slabs.
On the date, with caution. An inscription above the altar speaks of a consecration on 9 May in the year 1000, and many guides repeat it. However, the reference work Catalunya Romànica considers the inscription modern and unfounded, and on architectural grounds dates the building to the late 11th or early 12th century. The first reliable written mention is from 1166, and in 1196 the will of Ponç de Lillet leaves five sous to the church of Sant Miquel.
Much of what you see is the result of two restorations: the one in 1935, promoted by the Amics de l'Art Vell with the architect Jeroni Martorell, and the one in 1980 by the Diputació de Barcelona, which relaid the stone slabs of the roof. It is protected as a Cultural Asset of Local Interest.
It is worth walking all the way round and looking down: from up here you understand the setting of the monastery, with the farmhouse, the meadows and the Llobregat valley behind.
How to get there: on foot from the monastery, walking up the meadow to the hillock above it. It is about 150 metres with some 20 metres of climb. There is an information panel next to the door.
Coordinates: 42.241678, 1.992847 · 940 m altitude · open on the map
Castell Vell de Lillet
This is the most mountainous part of the visit and the one with the best reward. Little is left of the castle, but what remains is very well placed: on top of the crag there is a stretch of wall about 6 metres long and 3 metres high at its highest point, built of small, well-worked stones, with the remains of a buttress and a course of stones about 2 metres above the ground that shows there was once an upper floor.
In that wall there is a slightly pointed window, 1 metre high, 80 centimetres wide and 90 deep, facing north. If you look through it, what is framed below is La Pobla de Lillet itself, the village that replaced this castle. It is the photo to take home. From here the old road that ran from the Berguedà to the Cerdanya over the coll de la Creueta was kept under watch.
On the summit of the crag stands a large iron cross, placed there in the 19th century. The castle is listed as a Cultural Asset of National Interest.
How to get there: from the monastery take the track heading south. After about 1 km a turning on the left climbs with a very tight bend; take it. After some 500 metres you can already see the castle on the summit. Park there and walk round the hill until you find a small path that climbs to the top. The track is fine in a 4x4; in rainy periods it can be muddy and hard going in a car that is not prepared for it.
Coordinates: 42.238153, 1.988287 · 1,068 m altitude · open on the map
From Lillet Vell to the new town
The castle already appears in the 833 consecration deed of Santa Maria, which calls it "castro Lilietto". In the 10th century the lands of the valley were held by Emma, abbess of Sant Joan de les Abadesses and daughter of Guifré el Pelós (Wilfred the Hairy). In the 12th century the Lillet lineage appears, vassals of the lords of Mataplana, taking their surname from the castle itself: in 1144 Guisla is documented as lady of the castle of Lillet.
The turning point came on 15 April 1297, when Ramon d'Urtx and his son Hug de Mataplana granted a settlement charter to the inhabitants of La Pobla de Lillet. It was an invitation to settle away from the castle, where the road met the valley, and there the Mataplana family built a new town and a new fortress. The lords' residence moved down to the valley in the 14th century and the castle above began to be called Lillet Vell, "Old Lillet".
In 1374 the barony of Mataplana, including the castle of Lillet, was sold to Pere Galceran de Pinós. By around 1430 it was already called "Lillet vell" and was largely in ruins. Nine years later the men of the valleys of Lillet, Santa Cecília de Riutort and Vallfogona, who used it as a refuge, asked permission to rebuild it at their own expense; it seems no agreement was reached. From the 15th century onwards the records fade away.
How to organise it and where to stay
The easiest way is to leave the car next to the monastery, see the church from outside, walk up to the rotunda and go back to the car to drive the track to the foot of the Castell Vell. Taking it easy, a morning. If you want to see inside the monastery, arrange it beforehand with the tourist office.
To complete the story, go down to the village afterwards and visit the parish church and old town of La Pobla de Lillet: that is where the Majestat that left this monastery is kept, along with the medieval bridges over the Llobregat. And if you carry on in a 4x4, a track heads west from the monastery and, after about 4 km and a junction, leads to the Xalet del Catllaràs, in the heart of the Serra de Catllaràs.
Our three places to stay in La Pobla de Lillet are a few minutes' drive from the monastery, are let whole and take pets at no extra cost:
- Tríplex Cadí: 150 m² on three floors, 5 bedrooms, a fireplace and a wood-burning range.
- Catllaràs apartment: for 4 people, with 2 bedrooms.
- Adapted apartment: designed for people with reduced mobility.
Frequently asked questions about the Santa Maria de Lillet monastery
Is the Santa Maria de Lillet monastery the same church as the one in the village?
No. The monastery is outside the village, about 1.5 km to the east, on a hillside at 922 m. The parish church of Santa Maria is Baroque, was completed in 1784 and stands at the top of the old town of La Pobla de Lillet. They are linked by the Majestat de Lillet, a 12th-century Romanesque Christ that was in the monastery and now presides over the altar of the parish church.
Can the monastery be visited inside?
Yes, but it has to be arranged with the La Pobla de Lillet tourist office, as indicated by the town council. The exterior, the Sant Miquel rotunda and the Castell Vell can be seen freely.
How old is the Sant Miquel rotunda?
An inscription above the altar speaks of a consecration in the year 1000, but Catalunya Romànica considers it modern and unfounded. On architectural grounds it is dated to the late 11th or early 12th century, and the first reliable written mention is from 1166.
How do you get up to the Castell Vell de Lillet?
From the monastery follow the track south for about 1 km and take the turning on the left, which climbs with a very tight bend. After some 500 metres park and walk round the hill to the small path that climbs to the summit.
Why was the Castell Vell abandoned?
In 1297 the lords of Mataplana granted a settlement charter to La Pobla de Lillet and built a new town and fortress in the valley. The lords' residence moved there in the 14th century and by around 1430 the castle above, already called Lillet Vell, was largely in ruins.
Where to stay near the monastery?
In La Pobla de Lillet, a few minutes' drive away, we have the Tríplex Cadí, the Catllaràs apartment and an apartment adapted for people with reduced mobility. All three are let whole and take pets at no extra cost.