Who gallops through the hills around Sant Joan de les Abadesses on stormy nights, engulfed in flames and accompanied by ravenous black dogs? If you believe the stories, it's the legendary cursed Count Arnau, whose association with the Monestir de Sant Joan de les Abadesses has bequeathed it a heritage of brooding fairytales alongside its centuries of spiritual activity. The monastery is worth a visit for both its architectural treasures and the count's legend, richly illustrated in a permanent display.
The monastery, founded by Guifré el Pilós, began life as a nunnery – the nuns were expelled in 1017, some say for licentious conduct, others claim it was by decree of the Pope. Its elegant 12th-century church contains the marvellous and somewhat unnerving Santíssim Misteri, a 13th-century polychrome woodcarving of the descent from the cross, composed of seven life-sized figures. Also remarkable is the Gothic retablo (altarpiece) of Santa Maria La Blanca, carved in alabaster.
The monastery's 14th-century Palau de l'Abadia houses a permanent exhibition tracing the source of the legend of Count Arnau. Folk songs from the 19th century bemoan the count as a seducer of the monastery's abbess; others say the curse descended when he cheated workers by giving payment of level measures of corn, rather than the promised heaped measures. These stories, their historical significance and their expression in Catalan music and literature, are beautifully explained by a short film (in Catalan, Spanish, English or French) and audiovisual displays. And if the wind howls and trees rustle on a chill night in Sant Joan, you may well shiver when you think of Count Arnau, haunting the hills for all eternity astride his black steed...
