La Culla Cross

The Culla Cross is a boundary or humilladero cross in the Gothic style, dating back to 1413. It was located beside the royal road to Barcelona, very close to the Mas de la Culla, which was built around the year 1009. Like all boundary crosses, its function was to mark the entrance to Manresa and the beginning of the city’s jurisdiction.

When Saint Ignatius of Loyola arrived in Manresa, the Mas de la Culla was one of the richest and most powerful estates in the area. According to several testimonies, the future saint often went there to beg for alms. Driven by his great devotion, he would pray and meditate at the foot of the cross, where he is said to have experienced a vision or revelation. The monument is also linked to a popular legend known as “tal faràs, tal trobaràs” (“As you do, so shall you find”). In 1901, the great poet Jacint Verdaguer transformed this legend into a short poem, which was posthumously published in the 1908 collection Los pobres. Els sants.

The original Gothic piece, richly decorated, was removed from its initial location for conservation purposes. Today it can be visited at the Manresa Museum. The current cross was installed in 1925, although it has been restored numerous times over the decades.