Santa María de Quintanilla de las Viñas

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Apse and transept of the former Santa María Church in Quintanilla de las Viñas
Choir part with surrounding friezes

Santa María de Quintanilla de las Viñas , also called Santa María de Lara , is a church building from the Visigothic period that has only been partially preserved and originally belonged to a monastery . After years of decline, the church was declared a national treasure ( Bien de Interés Cultural ) in 1929 .

location

The church is located at the foot of a 1200 m high rock chain about 700 m (footpath) east of the hamlet of Quintanilla de las Viñas , which belongs to the municipality of Mambrillas de Lara in the province of Burgos of the Spanish autonomous community of Castile and León . The scanty remains of a Celtiberian settlement have been preserved near the church ; there are also excavation finds from a Roman country estate .

history

The building was probably built at the end of the 7th to the beginning of the 8th century, but the dating is controversial. At least the start of construction is dated to the time before the Islamic conquest of the Iberian Peninsula from the year 711, as a result of which previously populated areas were abandoned and the Christian population fled to the mountainous regions of the north. In the course of the reconquest of the reconquista in the second half of the 9th century, the areas north of the Duero were repopulated by Christians repoblación . In the year 822, a monastery in Quintanilla is mentioned in the will of the Abitus of Tobillas , which had continued under Arab rule. Another document from the monastery of San Pedro de Arlanza from the year 879 mentions the church of Santa María and its restoration by Flamola, perhaps the wife of the Count of Lara , whose name is carved on a memorial stone in the church.

In the year 912 the monastery in Quintanilla was re-established and in a deed of donation from 929 church and monastery are mentioned again. In 1038 the church was subordinated to the nearby monastery of San Pedro de Arlanza. In the following time it fell into disrepair; Parts of the nave were dismantled. It was not until the 1920s that the building was rediscovered and researched. After it was declared a Spanish cultural monument in 1929, archaeological excavations began.

In 2004, two cuboids with reliefs were stolen from the building. They were seized in London in 2019.

architecture

Ground plan of the former building
Detail of the outer wall frieze with one of the monograms

Exterior construction

The building consists of exactly hewn limestone blocks in orange-brown tones that are typical for Visigoth architecture from the middle of the 6th century , which are joined together without mortar . Originally the church had three naves , with the aisles being narrower than the central nave. The transept had an extra room at each end. The westernmost yoke was structurally separated, perhaps a baptistery . Very narrow, high window slots lit the room sparsely.

Today's roof is modern. Whether the church was originally covered by an open roof or vaulted is a matter of dispute. At least the apse seems to have been vaulted.

The square apse and the transept with a height of approx. 3.20 m and a total length of 10.40 m have been preserved. Originally, the three ships that are no longer preserved today in the rising masonry were connected to this, but their foundations could be proven during the excavations.

The approx. 46 cm high friezes on the outer wall, which stretch around almost the entire building, are striking, in three rows on the front of the choir head and across the window openings. Shown are rope-like , successive circular or braided ribbon patterns that frame vine tendrils and five- leaf palm leaves , birds and plant motifs. In the frieze there are three undeciphered, cross-shaped monograms . There are also animal representations of lions, leopards, antelopes, griffins or mythical creatures .

inner space

Triumphal arch

Inside, the transept with a paved floor opens to the apse , which is also covered with cobblestones, through a horseshoe-shaped triumphal arch , which is decorated with a frieze similar to that on the outer wall. It is noticeable that its lateral monolithic columns have neither bases nor capitals ; the arc is only on powerful with reliefs provided fighters stones on.

On the right fighter there are two angels holding a medallion with a bearded male figure and the letters SOL ("sun"). There is also an inscription on the stone that refers to the restoration of the church in 879 by Flamola. The inscription reads: "OC EXIGVVM EXIGVA OFF (ert) D (e) O FLAMMOLA VOTUM" (Flamola, the least of the least, gives God this gift in fulfillment of a vow).

On the left fighter there are also two angels and a bearded male figure with the crescent moon above and the letters LUNA ("moon"). The representations of SOL and LUNA are supposed to symbolize Christ and the Church; but they also have universal-cosmic implications.

On the opposite side of the crossing there are two more reliefs depicting Christ Salvator and Mary . All four reliefs imitate Byzantine models. In the apse there are more stone blocks that are decorated with reliefs. On one of them figures are shown holding books in their hands and interpreted as evangelists .

Above the keystone of the arch, a corbel protrudes from the wall, bearing the figure of Christ. Two other, similar pieces, the original location of which is unknown and which probably come from the broken nave, are kept in the church.

See also

literature

Web links

Commons : Santa María de Quintanilla de las Viñas  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Untermann: Architecture in the early Middle Ages , pp. 80, 127.
  2. ^ Untermann: Architecture in the early Middle Ages , p. 162.
  3. ↑ Jan Hennop: 'Indiana Jones of art' finds stolen Spanish carvings in English garden . In: The Jakarta Post, January 23, 2019; Retrieved May 22, 2919.
  4. ^ Untermann: Architecture in the early Middle Ages , p. 67.

Coordinates: 42 ° 7 ′ 28.5 "  N , 3 ° 28 ′ 22.8"  W.