Santa Cecilia (Barriosuso)

Ermita Santa Cecilia

The Ermita Santa Cecilia is a small Mozarabic hermitage (ermita) in the province of Burgos in the Autonomous Community of Castile-Leon . The church is the only structure in the province of Burgos with echoes of Mozarabic architecture .

location

The church stands on a ledge in the field and forest loneliness about 1200 m northeast of the small village Barriosuso at a height of about 950 m The stream of Rio Mataviejas (formerly Rio Ura ) extends in only about 100 m.

history

The Ermita de Santa Cecilia is first mentioned in 924. It subsequently served both as a hermitage and as a parish church for the village of Tabladillo, which had been abandoned for some time . In 1041 it belonged to the San Pedro de Arlanza Monastery . In 1125 it became the property of the Santo Domingo de Silos Monastery . In the late 12th century, the building was subsequently given a south porch (portico) , as can be found on many rural church buildings in the provinces of Burgos, Soria and Segovia .

architecture

From the outside, the church, built from largely unworked rubble stones , impresses with its secluded location and the simplicity of its shapes. One enters the church through the later added five-arch south porch, which is made of precisely hewn stone material, but has neither the usual columns nor capitals . The cautiously decorated portal with its double archivolts was also incorporated into the original structure in the 12th century. The single-nave interior is covered with an open roof structure. The triumphal arch between the rectangular nave and the almost square and barrel-vaulted apse is designed as a horseshoe arch . This arch - in connection with the documented early construction date - brings the church close to a total of 21 buildings of Mozarabic architecture in northern Spain. The tower of the church rises above the apse and - despite its quarry stone masonry - could be an ingredient of the 12th century, as towers are not usually found in Mozarabic architecture.

Furnishing

Apart from the triumphal arch, there are neither columns nor capitals inside the church. A holy water font carved out of one stone shows two rosette motifs on each side, which occur in both Mozarabic and Romanesque art. A small window cross in the rear wall of the apse with circular ends and an equally large circular center, on the other hand, is likely to be viewed as Mozarabic. A disc-shaped stele with a cross motif - which unfortunately disappeared - was found in the immediate vicinity; it is reminiscent of the Basque Hilarris .