You are at the place where, more than 900 years ago in 1080, a small canonist community was established to live following the laws of Saint Augustine. This settlement flourished and, over time, a series of buildings was built on the site of the first small church that reveal the community's splendour: the church of Santa Maria, the Romanesque cloister, the rooms for the canons...

The village welcoming you today gradually grew up in the shelter of the monastery and the eponymous lake ('estany' in Catalan).

For more than three centuries now, the monastery has been the see of the parish of Santa Maria de l’Estany. Evidence of the medieval monastery can still be seen in the church, the museum's rooms and especially in the extraordinary Romanesque cloister, a jewel of religious sculpture worldwide. The lake was dried out centuries ago.

We hope that these stones can still pass on to you the tranquillity, peacefulness and inner experience for which they were originally created.

Enjoy your visit.