Sant Joan de Mediona

Sant Joan de Mediona is the parish church of Mediona, a village in the Alt Penedès region of Catalonia. The building is also known under its older name, Sant Joan de Conilles, taken from the name the village itself once carried before it became known as Mediona.

How old is the church and what happened to the original building?

Records of the church go back to 1299, when it operated as a chapel subordinate to the castle church of Mediona. That early building was Romanesque, but nothing of it survives above ground today. In the 17th century the Romanesque structure was torn down and replaced with a new church on the same site. That replacement was then heavily remodeled in the mid-19th century, a phase marked by the date 1855 inscribed on the building. The church visitors see today is essentially the product of that 19th-century rebuild.

Is anything left from the medieval church?

Yes, though not much: four capitals from the earlier medieval building have survived and are kept inside the current church. Their carved style looks later than pure Romanesque work, which suggests they may date from an intermediate remodeling phase of the older building rather than from its very first construction.

What does the church look like architecturally?

The building follows a three-nave plan. The central nave is covered by a pointed vault, while the two side aisles are covered with groin vaults. At the east end, the main apse is polygonal, paired with a secondary, semicircular side apse — an unusual combination that mixes different vaulting and apse traditions within a single building.

In front of the entrance there is an atrium, forming a transitional space between the surrounding village and the church interior. Above it all rises a solid square bell tower that changes to an octagonal shape partway up — a design commonly seen in Catalan church towers of this kind.

Where exactly is Sant Joan de Mediona located?

The church stands in the village of Mediona itself, within the Alt Penedès comarca — a region best known for its vineyards and cava production. It serves as the parish church for the local community and is one of the recognizable landmarks of the village.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Sant Joan de Mediona the same building as Sant Joan de Conilles? Yes. Sant Joan de Conilles is the historic name of the same parish church, taken from the village's former name before it became Mediona.

Is the current church building Romanesque? Not as a whole. The original Romanesque church was demolished in the 17th century, and the building's present form comes mainly from a mid-19th-century rebuild (the date 1855 appears on the structure). Only four capitals inside the church remain from the medieval phase.

What architectural features stand out inside? The three-nave layout with a pointed vault over the central nave and groin vaults over the side aisles, the polygonal main apse paired with a semicircular secondary apse, and the four surviving medieval capitals.

In which region is the church located? In the Alt Penedès comarca of Catalonia, in the municipality of Mediona — an area known for its vineyards and cava production.