Massana / La Maçana / La Macana / La Massana / Macana

Described and illustrated iin Catalunya romànica (1984- ): the roughly bucket-shaped holy-water stoup is made of limestone; it was found in 1984 in the rectory chicken-house half-buried on the ground and serving as feed-dish; it was later cleaned and installed inside the church, by the entrance; the outer sides have a double set of round arches all around the upper half; the inside of the basin well is patterned with concave ribbing, much like the basin at Encamp, also in Andorra. This same source (ibid.) dates it to the early 12th century. [NB: the Inventari general del Patrimoni Cultural d'Andorra database [www.patrimonicultural.ad/banc/article.php?id=55] [accessed 12 November 2012] reports also an 'oil font' in a small room at the east end of the nave, on the south side [="Al costat sud de la capçalera trobem una petita sala on es conserva una pica per emmagatzemar oli." -- oddly, though, the IPCA does not mention either the stoup or the iron candelabrum in the sacristy]. It is not clear from the consulted sources whether there are three related objects or just two, as many of these sources use the terms 'pila', 'pica', 'beneitera', 'benditera', 'bautismal', 'baptismal, etc., apparently interchangeably. Garcia (2011), who illustrates the basin without context, however', writes definitely "pila benditera", i.e., holy-water stoup, and gives the location as the sacristy of the church.