The monastery of Sant Benet de Bages, located in a lush, humid spot on the right bank of the Llobregat River, is one of the most interesting monastic complexes in the country, with elements dating from the time of its foundation to the Baroque period. Today, it is a complex of buildings that reveal the long history of the monastery, which has undergone extensive restoration. From the 14th century onwards, the original layout of the complex was altered: to the south of the cloister (on the site of the original refectory), a long building with a diaphragm arch structure was constructed to house the cellar and, on two upper floors, monks' cells (now private residences). To the west, the entrance courtyard to the monastery was formed, with the guest quarters, the new chapter house and other rooms (on the site of the old dormitory). In the northern part of this courtyard, the abbey palace was built from 1627 onwards. These new rooms were built around the entrance courtyard, known as the Pati de la Creu. The Palau Abacial, a two-storey Gothic building, is particularly noteworthy. Its roofs were made of wood, supported by diaphragm arches. To the north of the cloister is the church, and to the east was the chapter house, which no longer exists. The church has a Latin cross plan, with a nave (25 m long by 7.5 m wide) covered by a slightly pointed vault, divided by three transverse arches. The south arm of the transept is lower and shorter than the north arm. Both are covered by a pointed barrel vault and have two small apsidioles in the wall. The central apse is the only one visible from the outside. The main doorway, on the west façade, is a semicircular arch without a tympanum, with four archivolts on columns with capitals in the Rosselló style. Another doorway, in the south arm of the transept, leads to the cloister. In 1569, another doorway was opened in the nave to also connect with the cloister. Under the main altar there is a crypt, greatly altered during the Baroque period, which held the supposed body of Saint Valentine, which Sal·la had brought from Rome when he founded the monastery. To the west, the church is attached to the imposing mass of the bell tower, with a pre-Romanesque base and a Romanesque body, later raised with the floor of the bells. Above the first transverse arch of the nave of the church stands a two-storey tower-bell tower. The cloister is the most interesting part of the complex. It consists of four galleries with six arches each. The 64 capitals of the cloister are of great iconographic value: some are decorated with stylised or geometric plant motifs, while others are figurative with motifs inspired by mythology, Christianity or scenes of humans or animals. The capitals in some of the arches, which may be from the old chapter house to the east, and a few others are the oldest in the entire cloister and can be dated to the second half of the 10th century. Altarpieces. Cut in a semicircular shape to fit the curvature of the apse where they were originally placed. They are currently attached to the wall at the front, the opposite of how they would have been originally. Both are supported by a single column, with a base, about 70 cm high. The first, located on the left side of the corridor, measures 124x76 cm at its widest points and is 12 cm thick. The finish of the curve is quite rough. The second, located practically opposite the cellar door, measures 165 x 77 x 12 cm and is very similar to the first but has a more polished finish. The monastery of Sant Benet de Bages was founded between 950 and 960 by the magnate Sal·la, who went to Rome to submit the future foundation directly to the Holy See (thus exempting it from civil and episcopal jurisdiction). The founding charter and endowment of the monastery date from 967, and in 972, after Sal·la's death, the first church was consecrated. The community went through a difficult period due to the poor administration of the abbots, a position that Sal·la had linked to his descendants. The appointment of the first elected abbot in 1002 led to a recovery of the monastery, which at the end of the century was united for a few years (1075-1118) with the Languedoc monastery of Sant Ponç de Tomeres. Devastated by the Saracens in 1114, the present church and cloister were built at the end of the 12th and beginning of the 13th centuries. In 1593, it was joined to the monastery of Santa Maria de Montserrat, which established a college of arts in 1620. In 1633, the interior of the church, which had been damaged by fire, was plastered. In its final days, the elderly Montserrat monks withdrew. In 1835, following the secularisation of the monks, the monastery was sold to private individuals. In 1908, it was acquired by Elvira Carbó, mother of the painter Ramon Casas, who carried out important restoration work under the direction of Josep Puig i Cadafalch. Since 1936, the church has been abandoned and is in need of major repair. The rest is well maintained thanks to the care of its owners, who allow visitors to visit. The carving of the Virgin appears to be original to the monastery and, despite the lack of information, can be dated to the 13th century based on its workmanship. The slab of the Sepulcre dels Calders is cut out by a head, indicating that it was built before the arcosolium where it was later fitted. The heraldry without a shield on this sarcophagus gives an uncertain date of the late 12th or early 13th century. It could have been built by William, Lord of Calders, who died in 1208, bequeathing his body and many possessions to the monastery. His descendants, including Guillem and Bernat, continued to be buried in the monastery cloister until at least 1290. Bones of Bernat Desprat and Berenguer Sacoma. It is believed that the deceased were relatives of Arnau Sacoma, abbot of the monastery between 1348 and 1374. The den was opened in the early 20th century and an oil lamp and a small jug were found, which are now in private collections. Sarcophagus of Guillem de Boixadors. Due to its style and the lack of a coat of arms, it can be dated to the first half of the 13th century and would coincide with a so-called Guillem, lord of Boixadors, Terrers i Fulleda, who died in 1237 and possibly commissioned this tomb. The Boixadors family contributed to the cost of the new buildings constructed in the monastery in the 12th and 13th centuries. In exchange, they asked to be buried in the monastery and for the monks to pray for their souls. The Calders tombstone was found in the cloister cistern and in the place where the entrance to the monastery's chapter house now stands. It belonged to an unidentified member of the Calders family, perhaps Berenguer or Guillem. The family made numerous donations to the monastery during the 12th and 13th centuries and, as was customary, requested a place to be buried. The two altars probably come from the side altars of the monastery church. They were previously in the apses of the Romanesque church, where they had almost certainly been placed, taking advantage of the previous building.