Santa Maria de Taüll

Santa Maria is the church in the centre of Taüll, a few hundred metres from Sant Climent. It forms part of the Romanesque ensemble of the Vall de Boí, a UNESCO World Heritage Site: eight churches and a chapel from the eleventh and twelfth centuries. The original paintings are in the MNAC in Barcelona; here reproductions are seen in their place.

Hours and admission

Admission is free, also for groups and schoolchildren. In November and December it is open Monday to Saturday from 10:00 to 19:00, without a break at midday, and on Sunday from 10:00 to 14:00 (on Sundays 6 and 27 December, also in the afternoon). It is closed on 25 December and on the afternoons of the 24th and 31st. From January to April it keeps the same hours Monday to Saturday and Sunday morning; from 4 July to 30 August it is open daily until 20:00.

With 30 minutes you can see it at leisure. If you want someone to explain it to you, the Centre del Romànic runs guided visits by booking all year, of about 45 minutes per church; up to ten people cost €30 per church.

This winter

It is the church in Taüll you can see inside: Sant Climent is closed from 30 November 2026 until the end of spring 2027 for roof works.

What you see

It was consecrated on 11 December 1123, a day after Sant Climent, by the same bishop of Roda-Barbastro; the consecration record is the first document to mention it. It has a basilica plan with three aisles, a central apse and two small apses, with gabled wooden roofs on arches resting on cylindrical pillars. The bell tower is set inside the church and cuts across the right aisle; in its base stone from an earlier building was reused.

In the eighteenth century the south apse was demolished to make a sacristy, a lantern was added and the side aisles were divided into chapels. The restoration of the 1970s gave it back the Romanesque appearance you see today.

The paintings were removed between 1919 and 1923. In the central apse there is a reproduction of the Epiphany, with the Virgin and Child, the Three Kings and the apostles, and beneath it medallions with real and fantastic animals. On the south wall, since 2013, a copy of the scenes from the Old and New Testaments by the so-called Master of the Last Judgement. In 2024 an original fragment of the Bathing of the Infant Jesus was reintegrated into a column.

Around

Taüll can be walked in a short time and from here the road climbs to the Boí Taüll ski resort. For lunch, El Caliu is at the edge of the village. If you continue through the valley, the Centre del Romànic joint ticket adds other churches such as Sant Joan de Boí.