Sant Joan de Boí

Sant Joan, in the village of Boí, is one of the oldest churches in the ensemble: according to the Centre del Romànic, it is the one that preserves the most elements of the first, eleventh-century construction in the whole valley. Its original wall paintings, with scenes of minstrels and animals, were taken to the MNAC; inside you see a reproduction in their place. It is next to the plaça del Treio, from where the park taxis leave.

Hours and admission

In November and December, Monday to Saturday from 10:00 to 14:00 and from 16:00 to 19:00; on Sundays, from 10:00 to 14:00 (on Sundays 6 and 27 December, also from 16:00 to 19:00). It is closed on 25 December and on the afternoons of the 24th and 31st. Admission costs €3, €2 for groups of 15 or more and for schoolchildren; children up to age 10 accompanied by an adult go in free.

The joint ticket for three churches costs €8; for five, €12, and for seven, €15. They are bought on the Centre del Romànic booking website. Half an hour is enough to see it.

What you see

It is a basilica with three aisles separated by round arches on low, massive columns and pillars, with a gabled wooden roof. It had three apses: the central one was demolished in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century alterations and only its arches remain, and the south side apse was rebuilt in the restoration of the 1970s. The bell tower, attached to the south wall, has three storeys: the base from the eleventh century, the next two from the twelfth with Lombard decoration and the last one modern.

The paintings were removed in two campaigns, between 1920 and 1923 and between 1976 and 1978, and in 1997-1998 the copies that now cover the walls were made. The idea is to see the church as it was painted in the early twelfth century: saints above and bestiary animals below and on the soffits of the arches.

Look out for three scenes. The stoning of Saint Stephen, with the saint on his knees and three executioners throwing stones. The minstrels on the north wall: an acrobat upside down, a juggler and a harpist. And the bestiary, with an elephant drawn with horns and tiny ears, a lion, a panther, a camel and a cockerel over the north door. Outside, over that door, there are remains of a theophany and medieval graffiti of towers and horsemen. Inside a Romanesque baptismal font is also preserved.

Boí on foot

Boí is the village that gives the valley its name; it appears written for the first time in 1064. From the church everything is close: the plaça del Treio, the Restaurant Pey and the Hotel Pey. If you are going up to the park by 4x4 taxi to Aigüestortes, the church fits in on the way back. To see the ensemble explained, the Centre del Romànic in Erill la Vall is very close, in the next village.