Once Upon a Time

"Temps era temps havia, en un poblet medieval..." ("Once upon a time, in a little medieval town…"), this is how a popular Catalan song starts, and it could be the way the history of the Castle of Mur also started. A castle we have said that was on the frontier, but that its main function was not to watch over the border with al-Àndalus, but to dominate and watch over a territory and its people.

That means we should relate it with the feudalism of the time, rather than the function of watching over the frontier. Why? Because the mountain range of Montsec already offered a significant protection, and moreover, the lord of the castle, Arnau Mir de Tost, was the first one on crossing the border and conquest Àger, and therefore the borderline was moved further to the south.

Documented in the year 969, the castle belonged firstly to the counts of Pallars and later, in its most splendid epochs, to the Mur. It is one of the many histories of changes of ownership between the big powers, between noblemen, and due to marriages, inheritances and improbable agreements.

In this case, in 1055 Ramon V of Pallars Jussà granted it to Arnau Mir de Tost as a dowry, in order to marry his daughter. And Arnau Mir de Tost took a lot of benefit from the "gift" of that marriage. His territory grew so much that soon many other fortresses were added; thus the castles of Guardia, Estorm, Moror, La Encina and Puigcercós started to form part of the wealth of Arnau Mir de Tost.

Powerful but not immortal, Arnau Mir de Tost handed over, when he died, his belongings to his daughter Valença, wife of the count Ramon V. From that time onwards, the next generations continued increasing the heritage.

In Santa Maria of Mur, Ramon V and Valença started, in the year 1057, the construction of a church. It was continued by their son, Pere Ramon, who consecrated it in the year 1069. After 30 years Pere Ramon conceded to link directly the Santa Seu to the canonical church. This was how an exempted administration of the Bishops of Urgell arised. During the glorious times, from the canonical church of the Mur, a dozen of other churches were managed; but at the end of the XIV century the life of the canonical church started to decline. The canonical church was transformed into a collegiate church and, in 1851, finally lost all its privileges and remained simply as a rural parish church. This church can still be admired by the visitors of the castle. It has to be said that the paintings that decorated the central apse, are considered one of the best examples of the Romanesque paintings. Unfortunately, one has to go abroad to admire them, since they are in Boston.