A little history of Saint-Michel-de-Cuxa abbey
And also
The tops
At the peak of its power, in the Middle-Ages, our abbey was the richest one in the area!
An old doge from Venezia, Pierre Orséolo, died in Cuxa in 987 and monks from Spain founded the monastery in 840, on this plot of land called Exalata, on river Tit's banks.
40 years later, a huge rise in the water level demolished the abbey; everybody died... Everybody? No!
Some of them were unhurt! Among them, a man called Protais, who asked money to king of France Charles the Bald and to count of Barcelona to rebuild the monastery.
This one was restored and was called Saint-Germain... later changed in Saint-Michel.
The new abbey had lots of privileges, given by kings of France and kings of Spain. Unfortunately, the French Revolution destroyed the monastery. It was sold and it needed a huge restoration site...