Sant Miquel de Cornellà de Terri

Sant Miquel de Cornellà de Terri is a small church in the hamlet of Prades del Terri, part of the municipality of Cornellà del Terri in the Pla de l'Estany comarca, Girona province. The building is listed in Catalonia's Inventory of Architectural Heritage, yet it remains a modest local church rather than a mass-tourism landmark — which is exactly what makes it appealing to travelers looking for quiet, genuine corners of inland Catalonia.

What is the history behind the church?

An earlier Romanesque church dedicated to the same saint, Michael, once stood on this site. That older building was destroyed by fire during the Remences wars, the peasant uprisings that shook Catalonia in the 15th century. The church seen today was raised in 1863, its walls built directly on the foundations of the earlier one. Beneath the chapel, a storage room still preserves part of a wall and the beginning of the apse from the old Romanesque church — the only physical trace left of the pre-15th-century building.

The church also suffered losses during the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939), when the statues of Saint Michael, Saint Joseph, and Our Lady of Hope kept inside were destroyed.

What does the architecture of Sant Miquel look like?

The building follows a simple rectangular plan with a single nave and an apse set at the rear. The roof is covered with two-pitched Arab-style tiles. The load-bearing walls are built of rubble masonry: the facades are plastered, but the corner ashlars and the stonework framing the entrance door are left exposed, giving the building the plain, rural character typical of small rural churches in this part of Catalonia. The main facade is topped by a bell-gable, the simple wall-mounted belfry common to modest Catalan parish churches.

Inside, well-preserved wall paintings from the mid-19th century survive, dating from shortly after the church's reconstruction.

Where exactly is the church located?

Sant Miquel de Cornellà de Terri stands in the hamlet of Prades del Terri, within the municipality of Cornellà del Terri, in the Pla de l'Estany comarca, not far from Girona. Its approximate coordinates are 42.079944, 2.836038. This is a quiet, agricultural stretch of Catalonia, away from the main tourist routes, so the church can usually be seen without crowds.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Sant Miquel de Cornellà de Terri a Romanesque monument? The original church on this site had Romanesque origins, but it burned down during the 15th-century Remences wars. What stands today is the 1863 building erected on the old foundations — Romanesque remains survive only in the room beneath the chapel.

What is found underneath the chapel? Below the main nave there is a storage room that still shows part of a wall and the start of the apse from the earlier, burned Romanesque church.

What does the church's facade look like? The facade is topped by a bell-gable, and its walls combine plastered surfaces with exposed, unplastered stone corners and a stone-framed entrance doorway.

Are there any paintings inside the church? Yes, the interior preserves well-kept mid-19th-century wall paintings, created after the church was rebuilt in 1863.