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Origin and history

The church of Saint-André d'Angustrine, located in the village of Angustrine-Villeneuve-des-Escaldes in Cerdagne (Pyrénées-Orientales), is a 12th century Romanesque building. It is distinguished by its semicircular bedside of the eleventh century and its two lateral chapels added in the eighteenth century. Dominating the village to the west, it is surrounded by a cemetery and should not be confused with the neo-Gothic church of the same name located in the center of the village. Its architecture combines a unique nave, a bell tower-wall with three bays, and a south portal of the twelfth century decorated with carved capitals and an archvolt with four windows.

The church is mentioned for the first time in the tenth century in the act of consecration of St. Mary's Cathedral in Urgell. Ranked a historical monument in 1954, it houses 13th century frescoes in its apse, representing the Supper, the months of the year and Christ in Majesty. These paintings, made in wet weather with red and black tones on a grey background, are distributed over two registers. The building, built in stoneware and covered with lauzes, uses the cut stone only for structural elements such as the gate, corner chains and oculi.

The southern portal, typical of Romanesque art, is framed by columns surmounted by capitals and presents an archvolt decorated with various motifs (boudin, bevelled clasps). The bedside, adorned with an arching in the middle of the hangar, and the bell tower-wall, similar to those of the nearby churches of Llo and Caldegas, illustrate the regional influence. It also retains ancient fittings on its granite door, showing its continuous use throughout the centuries.

The church's movable objects are referenced in the Palissy base, highlighting its heritage importance. Owned by the commune, it embodies both a place of worship and a historic marker of Cerdagne, reflecting the cultural and artistic exchanges between Catalonia and Languedoc-Roussillon (now Occitanie).

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