San Juan Bautista (Tozalmoro)
The church of San Juan Bautista in Tozalmoro , a district of Arancón , is one of the Romanesque churches in the vicinity of Soria , the capital of the province of the same name in the Spanish autonomous region of Castile and León . The church dedicated to John the Baptist is still enclosed by the wall of the original churchyard. The south portal has an extraordinary tympanum .
architecture
The church is built from regularly hewn sandstone blocks. A two-part bell gable ( espadaña ) rises above the west facade . A rectangular choir with a semicircular apse adjoins the single nave nave in the east . The church has two portals, which are located on the long sides of the nave.
Choir head
Two half-columns divide the apse into three wall sections, each pierced by a round arched window. Like the window of the southern choir, these consist of loopholes -like openings framed by two pillars decorated with capitals . Individual persons with folded hands are depicted on the capitals of the half-columns, sometimes couples with arms crossed.
Under the roof of the apse approach one with a checkerboard extends fries decorated cornice , the on corbels rests with inventive animal and human figures. There are mythical creatures such as basilisks , harpies and sirens with two tails next to snakes, four-legged friends and a music-making juggler, as well as an angel, obscene scenes (see Sheela-na-Gig ) and geometric and plant motifs.
South portal
The arched portal on the south side of the nave, protruding slightly from the surrounding wall, is the main entrance to the church. It consists of three archivolts , the two inner ones resting on slender pillars with capitals. Harpies and an angel are depicted on the two capitals on the left, a bird-like creature with a woman's head and three figures next to an angel are also shown on the two right capitals.
The tympanum deserves special attention , in the middle of which Mary is enthroned with the baby Jesus in her arms, surrounded by a mandorla . On their right and left are two angels and two other people who are interpreted as priests and acolytes . The tympanum is framed by a frieze of intertwined lines in which snakes appear. The two fighters (mochetas) on which the tympanum rests are carved on the left with three figures accompanied by an angel and on the right with a bearded head next to a female figure and a harpy. From a technical point of view (e.g. the plasticity of the reliefs) the tympanum is quite up to date (end of the 12th century); With regard to the (almost primitive) design of the figures, one should rather think of an inexperienced local stonemason .
Fighters and capitals
capital
Tympanum
fighter
The two heavily weathered corbels above the portal probably originally served to support a canopy that is no longer preserved today.
North portal
The portal on the north side sunk into the line of the wall has only one archivolt. The capitals of the two columns are decorated with plants. The tympanum is studded with flower buds, the upper end is formed by arcades arranged in a semicircle with eight small human heads.
Furnishing
Of the Romanesque features of are altar and baptismal font preserved.
literature
- Jaime Cobreros: Las Rutas del Románico en España . Volume 1, Madrid 2004, ISBN 84-9776-010-7 , p. 157.
- 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. 306-309.
Web links
- Tozalmoro www.romanicoaragones.com (Spanish, accessed April 21, 2013)
Coordinates: 41 ° 45 ′ 0.7 " N , 2 ° 17 ′ 2.1" W.