Yesterday we had the pleasure of having a tour of Viladellops. Yes, we live here but there is so much we have yet to learn about the vines, the cellar and the history. There are things we have had questions about and today Hanna taught us so much.
Today I’m just going to show and tell you about the 13th century chapel here in the village. I have taken many photos of the outside.
The original alter now stands in front of the church. Photo above.
Yesterday was the first time we saw the inside. The handmade tile work on the alter was just stunning.
It is recorded that the Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem built the Chapel of St John, after John the Baptist, in our village of Viladellops, with both a keystone inscribed with the Maltese Cross and a stained glass window of the same.
The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem, or the Knights Hospitallers, were a religious and military order that arose from the Crusades and The Holy Land. A hospital was built in Jerusalem around 1023 to help pilgrims in need of medical assistance. “After the conquest of Jerusalem in 1099 during the First Crusade, the organization became a religious and military order under its own Papal charter, charged with the care and defense of the Holy Land.” The order, like the similar Knights Templars, grew to be rich and powerful and spread across Europe, but after the loss of the Holy Lands withdrew to a base on Malta, and hence adopted the Maltese Cross as an emblem of the Order.
The Winery Woman 