Santa Maria de Ripoll Monastery, portal and cloister

What it is

The monastery of Santa Maria de Ripoll was founded around 879-880 by Count Guifré el Pilós, at the confluence of the Freser and the Ter, to consolidate his power in the upper Ter and to have a place where he could be buried and where prayers would be said for his soul. It became the first pantheon of the dynasty that ruled Catalonia until the 15th century and, under Abbot Oliba in the 11th century, one of the great cultural centres of Europe: its scriptorium produced manuscripts of the 10th to 12th centuries that are now kept in the Archive of the Crown of Aragon, the National Library of France and the Vatican Library.

The monastery suffered greatly in the 19th century. In 1835, during the First Carlist War, it was stormed and set on fire, and in 1847 the east wing of the cloister collapsed. The restoration, promoted by Bishop Josep Morgades and directed by Elies Rogent, ended with a solemn inauguration in July 1893 and made Ripoll a symbol of the Renaixença. What you see today of the church is largely that reconstruction, which sought to recover Oliba's ideal church.

What you will see

• The portal. This is the jewel of the complex: a great triumphal arch of stone from the mid-12th century, covered in scenes from the Bible. Look for Moses at the battle of Rephidim with his arms held up by Aaron and Hur, Jonah swallowed by the whale, King David with four musicians and Christ in majesty between two angels.
• The counts' pantheon. In the north transept, the tomb of Guifré el Pilós, in its final place since 1982, and the cenotaph of Ramon Berenguer IV. In the south, the monumental tomb of Ramon Berenguer III the Great, with a 12th-century chest and an equestrian figure by Josep Llimona. Beside the presbytery, the Modernista urns of Bernat Tallaferro and of Radulf, Guifré's son.
• The cloister. Trapezoidal in plan and with two storeys. The north gallery, Romanesque, from the second half of the 12th century, has white marble capitals with plants, animals and figures on reddish shafts. The other three galleries are Gothic, from 1384 to 1408, and the upper storey was finished around 1510. The 2011 restoration uncovered walls from the 10th century.

Opening hours

• Summer, 28 March to 27 September 2026: 10:00 to 14:00 and 16:00 to 19:00. Sundays and some holidays, 10:00 to 14:00; from 15 July to 1 September, also on Sunday afternoons, 16:00 to 19:00.
• Winter, 29 September to 31 March: 10:00 to 13:30 and 15:30 to 18:00. Sundays and some holidays, 10:00 to 14:00.
• Christmas: closed on 25 and 26 December and on 1 and 6 January. On 24 and 31 December and 5 January, 10:00 to 14:00.

Tickets are sold until 30 minutes before closing. Check holiday opening with the monastery.

Tickets

• General: €7.50.
• Reduced: €5.50, for over-65s, young people up to 25, teachers, unemployed people and large or single-parent families.
• Ages 5 to 18: €3.50. Under-5s: free.
• Groups of 20 to 30 people: €5.50 per person.

You can buy them online or at the ticket office. A self-guided visit takes an hour or an hour and a half.

Guided tour

On Saturdays and Sundays at 12:00. The schedule may change depending on services and celebrations; the monastery recommends booking on 972 70 42 03.

How to get there

The monastery is in the centre of Ripoll, in the plaça de l'Abat Oliba, next to the tourist office. The R3 train station is a few minutes' walk away, and the TEISA buses also arrive here. If you are driving, leave the car outside the historic centre.

With children

The portal can be read like a comic in stone: ask the children to find Jonah's whale or King David's musicians. The ticket is cheap for them. If they enjoy it, follow on with the Scriptorium at the Museu Etnogràfic, next door, where they learn how parchment was made.