San Pedro de la Mata
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The ruins of the Church of San Pedro de la Mata (also San Pedro de Arisgotas or San Pedro de Casalgordo ) are one of the few buildings of Visigothic architecture in Spain .
location
The church ruins of San Pedro de la Mata are located about 25 kilometers south of the former Spanish capital Toledo in the area of the municipality of Sonseca near the village of Casalgordo and the former Visigothic settlement of Arisgotas . From Casalgordo to the church it's about four kilometers in a south-easterly direction.
history
No information has been passed on to the history of church building. In the vicinity, however, an inscription was found which is dated to the time of the Visigoth ruler Wamba (r. 672–681). It is possible that the remote building fell into disrepair during the time of the Islamic advance on the Iberian Peninsula .
Church ruin
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Stone material
In contrast to most buildings from the Visigothic period, the church of San Pedro de la Mata only has a few smooth stones at the corners and in the area of the entrance portal. The building is otherwise composed of small, irregularly shaped boulders and the use of mortar; this suggests plastering of the interior of the church - and perhaps also of parts of the outer walls. Relief stones have not been found.
architecture
Investigations have shown that the building used to have a cross-shaped floor plan; the center of the church was probably raised by a crossing tower ( cimborrio ). It can no longer be determined whether the other components were vaulted or had wooden flat ceilings or open roof trusses. Apart from a few windowless remains of the wall, the only remaining original component is an unadorned horseshoe arch in the area of the crossing . Another portal in the area of the south transept only has a round arch , which makes a later addition likely.
meaning
A cross-shaped church building at a considerable distance from the next village suggests a former monastery complex. Architecturally, there are certain similarities to the buildings of Santa Comba de Bande and Santa María de Melque, which were built around the same time .
Others
In the church of San Pedro de la Mata supposedly the bones of St. Quiteria , a child martyr of the early 2nd century, are buried before they were transferred to Aire-sur-l'Adour (France) in the 8th century .
See also
literature
- Achim Arbeiter , Sabine Noack-Haley: Christian monuments of the early Middle Ages from the 8th to the 11th century , Mainz 1999, ISBN 3-8053-2312-3 .
- Jaime Cobreros: Guía del Prerrománico en España , Madrid 2006, ISBN 84-9776-215-0 .
- Pedro de Palol , Max Hirmer : Art of the early Middle Ages from the Visigoth Empire to the end of the Romanesque. Hirmer, Munich 1965, p. 16.
Web links
Coordinates: 39 ° 36'56.5 " N , 3 ° 59'9.9" W.