Church of Santa Helena de Rodes

First of all, an honest disclaimer: the Wikipedia article we used as our source is devoted to the municipality of Roses and makes no mention whatsoever of the church of Santa Helena de Rodes. There are no dates, no architectural style and no history of the building from which to put together its entry, and at El Trotamundos Curioso we would rather leave the gap than fill it with guesswork.

What the source does offer is context for this corner of the Alt Empordà, which is no small thing. The place name Rodes takes us back to Antiquity: in 333 BC, families from Massalia, present-day Marseille, settled at Sant Pere de Rodes. That settlement later moved down to the plain and gave rise to Rhode, a trading colony that minted coins bearing a rose on one side and the head of the nymph Arethusa on the other.

History kept adding layers: a Roman camp founded in 216 BC by Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio Calvus, the Battle of Rhode won by Cato the Elder, the status of municipium in the 1st century, the Visigothic castrum of Puig Rom and, in the Middle Ages, the monastery of Santa Maria de Roses. Much of that past can be explored today at the Citadel and at Trinity Castle, both of which serve as cultural venues.

Visitors to the area will also find a mountain landscape tumbling down to the Gulf of Roses, south of Cap de Creus, dotted with Neolithic dolmens such as the Creu d'en Cobertella and the Cova d'en Daina's neighbour, the Cap de l'Home. We will complete the entry for Santa Helena de Rodes as soon as we have a source specifically about the church.