El Bovalar
El Bovalar is the site of a medieval church ruin in Seròs in the Autonomous Community of Catalonia on a hill overlooking the Segre , a tributary of the Ebro , in Spain .
description
The Visigoth church ruins were discovered in 1943 and excavated in 1967. The building has been preserved to a height of just over a meter, its floor plan is complete. Its rectangular shape is easily recognizable between two flanking chambers with the choir in the east and a rectangular baptistery at the western end. The floor plan probably goes back to the 6th century.
A part of the wall runs from the north wall towards the center of the building with a column base at the end shows that there was originally a separation between the choir and the nave. Part of the altarpiece was found in situ and stolen. The church, except for the choir and the small chamber on the left, served as a burial church; Sarcophagi of various sizes were buried under the rooms. A number of bronze and ceramic liturgical objects, including an incense burner , have been recovered. They are exhibited in the Archaeological Museum of Lerida , where the border of the baptismal font, together with the six-column canopy at the western end of the church, is located.
In 1976 a further series of excavations took place under the direction of Pere de Palol . In addition to work on the church, the area on the south side, immediately next to the church, was explored. Here two courtyards grouped rooms were found, one of which is right next to the church. The report of these excavations is only available in brief summaries. The building group is described as interconnected. However, this assessment is based more on the numerous small finds on the site than on the structures, which are in clear contrast to the plans of other early medieval villages in Western Europe. The structures that closely surround the church are difficult to explain.
A final statement about the nature of this complex will be possible after the publication of the comprehensive report. It seems that the buildings around the church were built a century after it was built.
Dating
The dating is based on scattered gold coins in the buildings, in the form of Trientes of the last Visigoth kings. The earliest date is from Egica (687–702) and the youngest from King Agila II (711–714). It has been found that personal items and household items are missing in the place. The numerous gold coins raise questions about the identification of the village. They and the other finds were found scattered and there was evidence of fire, but there are no human remains. Apparently the place was abandoned very suddenly and destroyed in the course of the Arab conquest of the Ebro Valley by Tariq ibn Ziyad in 714.
literature
- Roger Collins: Spain - An Oxford archaeological guide. Oxford New York 1998
- Matthias Untermann : Architecture in the early Middle Ages . Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt 2006. ISBN 978-3-534-03122-1 , pp. 28f.
Web links
Coordinates: 41 ° 27 ′ 18.5 ″ N , 0 ° 25 ′ 37 ″ E