Saint Daniel d'Arle

Daniel of Arles or of Girona (Armenia, 9th century – Arles, 888) was a Christian martyr venerated as a saint in Girona. He is likely a legendary saint. The sources mentioning him are late, consisting of martyrologies and legendaries from the 11th century onwards, with no prior record or mention of him in the places linked to his life, such as Arles. His cult has always been local, centered in Girona and its surroundings. It is most probable that this is a local cult, perhaps originating from a martyr, around which a legend was constructed. According to this legend, Daniel was born in Armenian lands around the 9th century. After converting to Christianity, he went on a pilgrimage and arrived in Arles, Provence. During a Muslim raid, he was martyred, dying by beheading in 888. His body was moved by one of his disciples to prevent it from being desecrated. Upon arriving at what was then the Vall Tenebrosa, in the vicinity of Girona, he buried him inside the hermitage of Saint Salvador on September 1; since then, the valley and the church have taken the saint's name: the Valley of Saint Daniel. On the site of the chapel, Countess Ermessenda of Carcassona founded a Benedictine nunnery in 1017: the Monastery of Saint Daniel of Girona. The martyr's remains are venerated in the church's crypt, inside a sarcophagus created in 1345 by Aloi de Montbrai, by order of Bishop Arnau de Mont-rodon. He is the patron saint of the monastery and the entire valley.