Author(s)

E. Ros Barbosa

Abstract

Aran Valley, on the north-west side of Catalonia, is located on the septentrional gradient of the central Pyrenees, constituting the source of the Garona River. It borders with France in the north and Aragon in the west. This particular locality, and its singular history, have made this valley a strategic area since medieval times. A consequence of this is the conservation of rich, mainly ecclesiastic, movable and immovable heritage, managed by the “Comission d’Auviatge (heritage) dera Val d’Aran”, an assessing organism of the Conselh Generau d’Aran. This organism has an integral composition and functionality that differs from the Heritage Commissions that we can find in other places.

This paper lays out the rich and unknown heritage of Aran Valley that comprehends the immaterial, natural, movable and immovable heritage, concentrating the attention on the latter two and in their management through the control of the state administrations. The particularities and challenges that assume the conservation of such a rich and large heritage are exposed.

Keywords

Aran Valley, Aran Valley, Val d’Aran, immovable heritage, movable heritage, heritage management, Romanesque architecture, wooden Romanesque sculpture, wooden Gothic sculpture, mural painting