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The Municpality of Brunyola
is situated in the Comarca of La Selva (Catalonia), on
the eastern slopes of the mountain of Santa Bārbara,
where range of mountains known as Les Guilleries meets
the Girona plain. The name Brunyola, or Bruniola, seems
to have originally been the name of the castle, whose
estates, in 1116, stretched from the source of the River
Onyar to the mountain of Gironella. The river rises on
the buttresses of Santa Bārbara, passes through the
centre of Girona and then flows into the River Ter.
In 1280, the property of the Baron of Brunyola passes
into the hands of the Church, being donated by Berenguer
de Gornau to the cleric Guillem de Gonfredi. Upon the
death of the latter, in 1293, the whole of his estate was
bequeathed to the Almoina del Pa (Pia
Almoina?) de la Seu (Girona Cathedral Alms Trust)
and subsequently administered on its behalf by a Provost
or Beadle.
The Baronial Estate, the Castle and the Parish of
Brunyola seem to have been treated as one and the same
entity over time, since all three were represented by a
single Provost or Beadle.
The Parish Church stands on a site on one side of the
village square where it is believed the Torre
d'Homenatge (Tower of Homage) once stood. The church
is thought to heve started life as the Castle Chapel,
though it was subsequently modified.
Very little information relating to the church
survives, since all the original documents were destroyed
bu fire during the 19th Century 'War of
Spanish Independence'. The building itself, though very
old, is not particularly remarkable either in terms of
its architecture, nor its decoration. The only known date
for the church is 1823, when it was restored - the
French, during the war, had converted the building into
quarters for their cavalry and removed all the original
altar-pieces amd images.
In 1955, with the active support of the people of the
village, a new stone altar was constructed and a new
alabaster altar-pieces was commissioned from the Girona
sculptor, Josep Boada.
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