The extreme drought experienced in Spain has caused phenomena that have not been seen for decades. The lack of water in the reserves of the Sau reservoir dam —on the Ter river— in Catalonia, has exposed a church built in the 11th century that had been submerged for 60 years.
Having only reached 37% of its maximum water capacity, the dam left the entire church of Sant Romà de Sau in sight, in Vila de Sau, which was 23 meters deep, according to a study by the University of Barcelona. The Spanish newspaper El País reports that the last time the dam received so many visitors was in 2005 – the year in which Spain went through a drought – when it was necessary to withdraw water from the dam to serve the populations of Susqueda, leaving the monument uncovered.
Identified with Romanesque architecture, the church was object of works in 1999 in the nave and the bell tower due to the risk of collapsing. It has become one of the main tourist attractions in the region because, under normal circumstances of the river flow, only the tower is visible to the eyes of visitors.
Source: Observadora
