Monastery of St. Daniel in Girona

It is believed that St. Daniel was of Armenian descent. He moved to Provence with the willingness to preach in this territory for the rest of his life. The preacher died in France in 888 .

Numerous followers of St. Daniel took his remains and transported them to the south, where they later buried in a cave located in a valley known today as the valley of St. Daniel ( Fr. Valle de Saint Daniel ).

The lifetime glory of St. Daniel as a “right” Christian and a wonderful preacher led to the fact that after death, a string of pilgrims flowed to his relics. Everyone wanted to ask for fulfillment of desire and to be cleansed of sins.

Constantly replenished line of sufferers led to the fact that a church was built at the burial place of the saint. Initially, it was known as the parish of St. Savior (San Salvador), and later as the monastery of St. Daniel (monasterio de San Daniel).

On March 15, 1018, Countess Ermessenda of Carcasona (Ermessenda de Carcasona, 972? −1058), widow of Count Ramón Borrell (Ramón Borrell, 972–1017), with her son Berenguer Ramón I, (Berenguer Ramón I, 1006? −1035), donated Church of St. Daniel. As usual, not for free. In return, they received rights to the monastery of St. Daniel.

Historians believe that the donation document is evidence of the emergence of a monastery. After all, no other evidence was found, and the existence of any community is not mentioned.

Under this name, the monastery was first mentioned in 1028. In the same year, the name of the abbess of the monastery, Bonafilla, is also mentioned. It is assumed that this was the first "mistress" of the monastery.

History claims that by 1028 the monastery could already provide for its own existence. Moreover, thanks to the donation, the monastery is flourishing. However, many donations were made by the nuns themselves, whose families were very, very wealthy.

Initially, there were 6 nuns in the monastery, in the 13th century it was already 12, and in 1342 - 20. All the nuns, in accordance with the Benedictine statute, were of a noble family or from wealthy families.

In 1343, the remains of St. Daniel were discovered. It is easy to guess that the monastic community had an irresistible desire to revive the cult of his relics. Principle: “one's own” saint = more pilgrims = more donations = richer the monastery and its “superiors” have been effective since the first saints arose. And so, in 1345, the master Aloi was entrusted with the creation of the grave of the saint, which was placed in the crypt.

Later, small monasteries joined the monastery of St. Daniel, which at that time were in decline. So, for example, in 1458, the community of St. Margarita from Prats de Roses (comunidad de Santa Margarida) joined the monastery, which was also in decline. The same thing happened with the monastery of Santa Maria del Mar (monasterio de Santa María del Mar). He joined in 1458. It is curious that in 1543 the abbess of the monastery Valdemaria (monasterio de Valdemaria) joined the monastery of St. Daniel. After only seven years, the Valdemaria monastery itself joined.

In 1578 , in accordance with the new provisions of the Council of Trent (Concilio de Trento), new rules and changes were introduced. Before these amendments, the nuns lived in a monastery with certain amenities (they had individual rooms and even a servant). However, with the introduction of the new rules, their life became noticeably more complicated.

In 1640, the military operations of the Segador rebellion forced the nuns to leave the occupied monastery. From 1681 to 1819 during the period of hostilities the monastery of St. Daniel is often robbed and attacked.

During the Napoleonic invasions, the monastery became a hospital for the French troops. Thus, for more than a century, the nuns have been in extremely limbo: either they return to the monastery, then they leave it again. In desperation, the nuns make several attempts to join the Barcelona monasteries of St. Antonio and St. Clara (Sant Antoni and Santa Clara). They could return to their monastery only in 1819 .

In 1835, the monastery was confiscated by the state. However, the nuns continued to remain in the monastery. During the civil war of 1936-1939, the nuns again had to leave the monastery and return only after the war ended.

In the church of the monastery of St. Daniel, some elements have retained their original appearance. For example, the apse and the dome of the church have survived untouched to this day. The lower part of the monastery is a typical Romanesque style, and the second floor of the monastery is already Gothic.