Santa Maria de Bendones

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General view with the bell tower

Santa María de Bendones is a pre-Romanesque church in the autonomous region of Asturias in northwestern Spain . It is located in the small town of Bendones, about five kilometers south-east of Oviedo .

history

The construction of the church is assigned to the reign of the Asturian King Alfonso II the Chaste (783 and 791-842). The first written mention of the church comes from the 12th century. After the church was badly damaged by an arson attack in the Spanish Civil War in 1936, it was rebuilt in the 1950s. In 1958 it was declared a Monumento Nacional ( Bien de Interés Cultural ).

Central apse

architecture

Window with transenna

The church has a rectangular plan . Two equally large vestibules or chapels are built on the north and south sides . The interior consists of a transept - similar to the Church of San Julián de los Prados - to which three rectangular apses adjoin to the east and to which a vestibule and two side chambers lie symmetrically opposite to the west . A longhouse there is not.

The main apse is larger and higher than the side apses and barrel-vaulted , the other rooms have wooden ceilings. All parts of the room are connected by round arches. In Santa María de Bendones, too - as in other pre-Romanesque churches (e.g. San Baudelio de Berlanga , San Salvador de Priesca or Santiago de Peñalba ) - there is a chamber above the central apse that is only accessible from the outside through a large triplet window ( cámara ocult ), the meaning of which is not clear. The triple window is embedded in the front wall of the central apse and surrounded by an Alfiz frame , which refers to Mozarabic influence. The other windows are provided with window grilles , but they are more recent.

tower

Bell tower

About a meter from the western porch, on the south side of the church, are the remains of a rectangular, free-standing tower. If it was built as the bell tower of the church in the early 9th century - it is believed - it is one of the oldest bell towers on the Iberian Peninsula .

Murals

It is believed that the building was originally plastered outside and inside. Only a few remains of the painting have survived in the apses. Like the frescoes in San Julián de los Prados, they feature garlands of flowers, geometric motifs and architectural representations.

Sculpture jewelry

Fragments of the original choir screen ( canceles ) from Santa María de Bendones are now in the Archaeological Museum of Asturias (Museo Arqueológico Provincial de Asturias) in Oviedo. In the southern side apse there is the original, pre-Romanesque altar plate made of sandstone .

literature

Web links

Commons : Santa María de Bendones  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 43 ° 20 ′ 9.6 "  N , 5 ° 48 ′ 22.7"  W.