San Baudelio de Berlanga
San Baudelio de Berlanga is a Mozarabic church from the second half of the 11th century near the town of Casillas de Berlanga and belongs to the municipality of Caltojar in the Spanish province of Soria in the southeast of the autonomous region of Castile-León . It has a palmette pillar and frescoes from the 12th century.
history
The construction of the church is related to the Christian reconquest ( reconquista ) of the areas north of the Duero around 1060 and their subsequent repopulation ( repoblación ) by Christians who lived under Moorish rule and who had appropriated their culture. The church was built in the second half of the 11th century in front of the entrance to a grotto , into which a hermit probably retired in late antiquity or in the early Middle Ages . The grotto was next to a spring. From this hermitage a monastery community arose in the 10th century , which dedicated to St. Baudilius , a martyr from the time of Emperor Julian Apostata (360–363), was chosen to be their patron saint .
The first written evidence of the monastery dates back to 1136, when it was made subordinate to the diocese of Sigüenza by a decision of a council of Burgos . It is not known when the monastery and church were abandoned. At times the church served as a sheepfold.
In the 19th century, the complex became privately owned and was bought by twelve residents of the village of Casillas de Berlanga in 1893. As early as 1884 and 1907, scientific publications pointed to the art-historical importance of the architecture and the frescoes of San Baudelio. In 1917 the building was declared a Spanish cultural monument ( Bien de Interés Cultural ).
Between 1922 and 1926, 23 frescoes were removed and sold by the owners at the time. These frescoes are now in American museums ( Cincinnati Art Museum , Indianapolis Museum of Art , Museum of The Cloisters of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York , Museum of Fine Arts in Boston ) and in the Museo del Prado in Madrid . Because of the poor state of preservation of the roof, the remaining frescoes were badly damaged. In 1949, the church was built by the Foundation Fundación Lázaro Galdiano bought and donated to the state. Then the renovation began. In 1965 the remaining frescoes were removed, restored and put back in place. Today San Baudelio belongs to the Museo Numantino of Soria .
architecture
The church is made of quarry stone and consists of two almost square structures. The eastern part, the apse , has a gable roof , the larger main building a pyramid roof . Only two doors and two small windows open to the outside. The entrance has a horseshoe arch with irregular vaulted stones . In the middle of the main nave, the massive column , from which - like the branches of a palm tree - eight arches that support the vault , attract attention. In Islam the palm is the symbol of paradise and in Christianity the symbol of martyrs and the symbol of life after death. In the upper part of the column, hidden behind the ribs of the vault and covered by a small dome with six ribs crossing each other in pairs, there is a chamber ( cámara oculta ), as it occurs in other Visigothic or Mozarabic churches and whose meaning is disputed. Perhaps it was used as a repository for relics or served as a cave for an inclusion . Five steps lead in the east to the rectangular closed apse, which has a barrel vault and a small horseshoe window.
In the western area, pillars with horseshoe arches divide five small naves , known as mezquitilla or mezquita ( mosque ). Here you can still see the access to the hermit's grotto carved directly into the rock. Above the mezquita there is a gallery with the so-called chapel and the choir , which was previously accessible from the outside through a door.
Frescoes
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The frescoes were most likely made in the 12th century and are among the oldest in Spain. Originally they covered the entire interior, the walls, the columns, the ceiling and the vaulted ribs. The removed frescoes are now partly replaced by copies. Some of the original paintings can still be seen at the location of the chipped frescoes, as the paint has penetrated the plaster . The representations combine Islamic and Christian symbolism . Religious and secular themes stand side by side.
The subjects are hunting and animal representations such as a deer and a hare hunt, a falconer , a warrior, an elephant with a castle on its back, a bear, a dromedary, pawing dogs, an ibis . The religious themes include the depiction of the three Marys at the tomb, the healing of the blind man and the raising of Lazarus , the wedding at Cana , the temptation of Jesus , the entry into Jerusalem , the Lord's Supper and scenes of the Passion . The two figures on the front wall of the apse are known as St. Nicholas and St. Baudelius interprets. A dove is depicted on the keystone of the sloping window.
The restored and reinstalled frescoes are mainly on the vault and on the vault ribs. The following scenes are depicted here: Annunciation , Visitation of Mary , Birth of Jesus, Annunciation to the Shepherds , Arrival of the Magi , Killing of the Innocent Children , Presentation of the Lord and Flight into Egypt .
Graves
Behind the apse there are over 20 tombs carved into the rock, which are dated to the 11th and 12th centuries and whose anthropomorphic shape suggests that the dead were buried lying on their backs. The graves were covered with stone slabs and were probably used until the 16th century.
literature
- Jaime Cobreros: Guía del Prerrománico en España. Madrid 2006.
- Augustín Escolano Benito: San Baudelio de Berlanga. Guía y Complementarios. 2nd edition, Salamanca 2005.
- Jacques Fontaine: L'Art Mozarabe. L'Art Préroman Hispanique. Vol. 2., La Pierre-qui-Vire (Zodiaque) 2nd edition 1995.
- Juan Zozaya: La Ermita de San Baudelio de Berlanga. Soria 2003.
Web links
- San Baudelio de Berlanga youtube, video (spanish)
- Ermita de San Baudelio de Berlanga arteguias (Spanish)
- San Baudelio La frontera del Duero (Spanish)
Coordinates: 41 ° 25 ′ 6 ″ N , 2 ° 47 ′ 25 ″ W.