The Chapel of La Mare de Déu de l’Esperança and other churches

The Chapel of La Mare de Déu de l’Esperança and other churches

Small chapel with a large bell-gable beside the church of Santa Cecília. It is from the 14th century but was rebuilt in modern times. It is Gothic in style, and a grave inscription attributes its construction to Guillem Pere, a priest of Meranges. the 15th-century Gothic altar screen currently to be seen in the parish church of Santa Cecília comes from this chapel. In the middle of this screen is a niche with a reproduction of the lost 13th-century Romanesque statue of Our Lady of Bolvir, which was a 50 cm high polychrome carving that was burnt in 1936, like so many others. It consisted of the virgin Mary seated on a throne and wearing a veil, tunic and cloak, holding the baby Jesus seated one hand and on her knee.

 

Two other churches are recorded in Bolvir. One of these was that of Santa Maria, recorded in various legacies from 1301 onwards, but of which there are no architectural or archaeological remains. the other was dedicated to Sant Andreu and was probably the church of the hamlet of Sallent (and subsequently the chapel in the farmhouse).