Sant Pere de les Puel·les

The nunnery of Sant Pere de les Puel·les was one of the first Benedictine nunneries in the Catalan counties, and is also one of the few that has survived to present day, although in a new location in the city of Barcelona. The founders of the nunnery were the Counts of Barcelona, Girona, Osona and Manresa, Sunyer I and Riquilda, who generously endowed it, as recorded in the act of consecration of the church in 945. At that moment, the nunnery was located northeast of the city of Barcelona, in the area known as Vilanova de Sant Pere, outside the city walls.

The goal of this research is to reconstruct the inner space of the monastic church (which also served as parish church) at the end of the 16th century from the information provided by the account of visitors that the abbess Violant D'Espés started in 1585, preserved in the Archives of the monastery. It is an extensive document that provides a detailed inventory of furniture, gold and silver articles, worship elements, and liturgical clothing present in the sacristy, chapels and altars, and the church choir.