San Juan de Duero Monastery (Soria)
The monastery of San Juan de Duero in Soria , the capital of the province of the same name in the Spanish autonomous region of Castile-Léon , is a former commander of the Order of the Hospital of St. John in Jerusalem . Of the monastery located outside the city on the left bank of the Duero , only the church and the cloister remain. The church is dated to the 12th century, the cloister is from the late 12th or early 13th century. In 1882 the buildings were declared a monument ( Bien de Interés Cultural ).
history
The Order of St. John, along with the Order of the Templars and the Order of Calatrava, is one of the three orders of knights that settled in Soria in the 12th century. A document proves that in 1152 the order owned a church dedicated to the Holy Sepulcher near the bridge over the Duero, the main entrance to the city from the east. A document from 1190 shows that the Johanniter maintained a hospital at this point.
From the middle of the 17th century, the decline of the coming began. Only the church was used until the end of the 18th century. In 1853 the coming party was no longer occupied. The church was left to decay and was used as a cattle shed, vegetables were grown in the cloister. Although the remaining buildings were among the first to be declared a Monumento Nacional in the province of Soria in 1882 , they were left to deteriorate further. Cattle were penned there until 1902. Only the roof of the church was repaired and the cloister was exposed. Restoration measures were only undertaken in the following years. Since 1992, the monastery has been a branch of the medieval section of the Museo Numantino of Soria.
The monastery of San Juan de Duero served as the setting for the story El rayo de luna by Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer (published in 1862).
church
An open bell tower ( espadaña ) rises above the west facade of the church . The main entrance is on the south side.
The single nave nave is covered by an open roof structure. The retracted choir adjoining in the east is covered by a pointed barrel and closed by a rounded apse covered with a semi- dome . A pointed arch decorated with capitals opens the nave to the choir.
Chapels
The two chapel-like fixtures in front of the choir on both sides of the nave are unusual. They were probably only added to the interior of the church later to increase the number of altars . Both have stone altars and are roofed by domes that rest on columns with figurative capitals. The dome of the left chapel is semicircular on the outside, that of the right chapel has the shape of a cone. Rough ribs with brackets carved with human and animal heads run along the underside of the two domes .
On a capital of the left chapel the story of the beheading of John the Baptist is depicted with the scenes of Herod's feast and the dance of Salome . Another capital is decorated with harpies or sirens . These hybrid creatures with the body of a bird and the head of a woman are interpreted as symbols of temptation and sin. A knight dressed in chain mail, perhaps St. George , against dragon-like monsters. The fourth capital shows a centaur with a bow and arrow and soldiers fighting a seven-headed hydra . The scenes are supposed to symbolize the struggle of good against evil.
A capital of the right chapel is carved with the scenes of the Annunciation, the Visitation, the Nativity, the Annunciation to the Shepherds and the Adoration of the Magi. The flight into Egypt is the subject of another capital, on one side of which a sphinx watches over the scene and on the other side the gates of a palace are half-open as a sign of friendly welcome. The third chapter represents the killing of the innocent children , the fourth the ascension of Mary . The apostle Thomas kneels on one side, not only having doubts about the resurrection of Christ but also about the ascension of Mary. To convince him, he is presented with Mary's belt .
Beheading of John the Baptist
Annunciation and Visitation
Birth of Christ
Harpies
Cloister
To the south of the church is the cloister, which was probably built at the same time as the two chapel installations. It is built on an approximately square floor plan and was originally covered with a wooden roof. All four galleries have different arches, with the change starting in the middle of the wings. Portals open at three corners.
The oldest part are the arched arcades on high plinths in the north-west , the capitals of which are decorated with plant and animal motifs and also figurative scenes.
The north-eastern part of the cloister consists of slightly pointed, horseshoe-shaped arches. The ridges that rise above the capitals are perhaps the remains of an alfiz that originally ran around the arches. The horseshoe shape as well as the alfi frame are attributed to Islamic influence. The arches rest on square pillars with four semi -columns in front . Most of the capitals are decorated with leaves. One capital is wickerwork, another with griffins and mythical creatures whose tails are intertwined.
The arches of the south-eastern section are also horseshoe-shaped and slightly pointed. Two arches each rest on a fluted pillar. All arches overlap either at their base or at arch level. They have no capitals.
The arches of the southwest gallery are similar to those of the southeast gallery. They also overlap, but only at arch height. Two arcades each rest on double columns, most of which are decorated with leaf capitals, some with geometric motifs.
Capital of the northwest gallery
Capital of the northeast gallery
Capital of the northeast gallery
Leaf capital
literature
- Jaime Cobreros: Las Rutas del Románico en España . Vol. 1, Madrid 2004, ISBN 84-9776-010-7 , pp. 152-154.
- Pedro Luís Huerta Huerta: Todo el Románico de Soria . Fundación Santa María la Real , Centro de Estudios del Románico. Aguilar del Campoo 2012, ISBN 978-84-15072-63-8 , pp. 287-294
- Elías Terés Navarro, Carmen Jiménez Gil: Monasterio de San Juan de Duero, Soria. Arquitectura e iconografía . Ochoa Editores, Soria 2008, ISBN 978-84-7359-464-6 .
Web links
- Soria - San Juan de Duero Arte románico de la ribera del Duero (Spanish)
Coordinates: 41 ° 46 ′ 6.5 ″ N , 2 ° 27 ′ 15.6 ″ W.