Abbaye de Saint-Martin du Canigou

Saint-Martin-du-Canigou Abbey clings to a rocky outcrop at 1,094 metres on the western flank of the Pic du Canigou in the French Pyrenees, one of the most dramatically sited Romanesque monasteries in Europe. Count Guifré II of Cerdanya consecrated the Benedictine foundation in 1009; he later entered the community as a monk and was buried within its walls. After the 1428 earthquake left much of the complex in ruin, it lay largely abandoned until Bishop Carsalade du Pont launched a thorough restoration in 1902, returning it to active monastic use. There is no road to the abbey — the shortest approach is a 45-minute climb on a steep footpath from the village of Casteil. At the top, the austere Romanesque cloister, carved directly into the cliff face, frames views stretching south across the Roussillon plain to the Mediterranean.