The picturesque setting of these churches, their lean towers contrasting against the backdrop of the Pyrenees, is the strongest point of this WHS. Most of the villages they belong to have a nice medieval feel to them too. Unfortunately, the original murals have all been taken away (“preserved”) to museums in bigger Catalan cities such as Barcelona.

I visited 5 churches, and after that felt I had seen enough of them. In my opinion, the two in Taüll are the most impressive. The large Sant Climent church is visually striking, it makes you want to take more and more pictures. It also is a very popular destination, my arrival coincided with a large tour bus. We all strolled uphill through the touristy streets of Taüll, to the Santa Maria church. It lies in an enclosed area at the town’s plaza, and although it doesn’t look much from the outside the restored murals here are very fine.

I had stayed overnight in Erill la Vall. Here I visited the Information Center of the Boí Valley. A video is shown that gives you a feel for how and why these peculiar churches came into existence, and why here. I guess these Catalan pilgrims were just jealous of the art and architecture they saw in Rome and the north of Italy and wanted to take something of it with them home. This resulted in the “import” of Lombard builders and craftsmen.