Church of Sant Joan de Arties

The Church of Sant Joan de Arties is a historic religious building located in Arties, in the municipality of Naut Aran, Lleida, in the Val d'Aran. Although its origin is Romanesque, the current form corresponds to a Gothic reconstruction of the fourteenth century; some sources specify that the Gothic transformation was made around 1385. It is not currently used as a parish church and is used as a temporary exhibition hall. Traditionally it has been linked to the passage of the Order of the Temple and later to the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, who would have used it as a hostelry before its liturgical use as a local church. During the 20th century it suffered abandonment and auxiliary uses, until its restoration at the end of that century, when it was recovered as a visitable heritage space. Architecturally it is a temple of a single nave with three apses, articulated in four sections. Its bell tower stands out for its square base and octagonal top, a characteristic feature of Aranese Romanesque and Gothic architecture. On the south wall there is a Gothic doorway with pointed arches in degradation and, as a vestige of the primitive building, a Romanesque window in the west wall. The complex is also of historical interest for having been the parish church of the part of the village located to the right of the Garonne and for preserving an ancient funerary environment, with graves visible on its perimeter. Its heritage value lies in the combination of medieval origin, Gothic reform and later adaptation as a cultural space.