Romanesque Churches of Spain: A Traveller's Guide

Romanesque Churches of Spain

A Traveller's Guide

Peter Strafford

Romanesque Churches of Spain: A Traveller's Guide
(ISBN 9781900357319)
was published in September 2010
400 pages 210 x 145 mm 262 black and white illustrations and 10 maps
£16.99

Sir Brian Young, Director-General, Independent Broadcasting Authority, 1970-82, and author of The Villein's Bible: Stories in Romanesque Carving (1990) has made these comments on the book: 'In Spain, the Romanesque carvings between Silos and Barcelona are, perhaps, more splendid than those in any similar area. They are triumphantly evoked by Peter Strafford in a book which is a monument of completeness, scholarship and clarity. This is a lively reminder of places already loved or half-forgotten, and a vivid encouragement to seek new delights. The photographs are as magnificent as the lucid text.'

Peter Davies in The Times, January 2011: '...[it is] a traveller's guide, the result of journeys taken in Spain over a period of several years by Strafford, a former Times journalist who also took the photographs that illustrate it, and his wife. And it is full of the pleasures of travelling, and arriving at the goals of their church pilgrimage, whether situated in great towns or small villages, or placed on rocky plateaux or hanging vertiginously on hillsides over the sea...Catalonia is particularly rich in Romanesque churches, some of them dating from the style's earliest times...But [its] treasures are but a few among the gems of the rich corpus of the Spanish Romanesque encompassed by this most informative book.'

Simon Scott Plummer in the Catholic Herald, December 2010: '[He] takes his readers on a westwards journey through eight regions, ending, appropriately, at the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, the goal of the medieval pilgrim, for whom many of the churches he describes were built. A comprehensive introduction is followed by meticulous observation of the architecture of around 120 buildings, the whole generously illustrated with photographs taken by the author...I am confident that, like its companion volume on French Romanesque...it will prove indispensable.'

Living Spain, winter 2010-11: '...Spain, where Romanesque churches rival those of France for their originality and impressive sculpture...the first comprehensive book to be published on this subject...the book's 10 maps and 250 illustrations entice the traveller off those beaten tracks to explore isolated areas not familiar to many...also really useful as an armchair reference tool to those with an interest in Spanish architecture and sculpture...'

Christopher Howse in the Tablet, Christmas Books: '...in the northern half of the peninsula, hundreds of churches were built between 1000 and 1200. Some stand in tiny villages; some inside castle walls on rocky heights; some served for centuries as monastic focuses of devotion and learning until the Spanish dissolution of the monasteries in 1835. It is a joy to explore these churches and Peter Strafford, author of the much valued Romanesque Churches of France, has selected 120 of the most remarkable...Among the churches I have never seen and have now tagged for a visit, thanks to this book, is Santo Sepulchro at Torres del Rio...'

Felipe Fernandez-Armesto in TLS: 'Readers of Spanish, Catalan and French have long had help from scholarly guide-books to the riches of pre-Romanesque and Romanesque Spain. Peter Strafford's single volume goes some way to filling the gap in English. Nimbly covering Spain as far as the southern fringes of the Duero vally, the author provides clear, if impressionistic, descriptions of buildings and, in some cases, wall paintings, reliefs, capitals and fixed sculpture...'

Bulletin of Confraternity of St James, March 2011: 'This is the guide English-speaking enthusiasts have been waiting for...his writing is concise, informative and aimed at the general public...The 32-page introduction should enhance the experience of anyone walking the Camino Frances or the Camino del Norte...there is a splendidly concise account of the importance and the development of the pilgrimage routes from the time of Sancho el Mayor (1004-35), who was King of Navarre and became ruler of Castile and Aragon...'

Description

The widespread and numerous Romanesque churches in the northern half of Spain rival those of France for their distinctiveness and originality and for their remarkable sculpture. They were mainly built between about 1000 and 1200 and mirror the progressive rolling back of Islamic power in the long reconquista, first of all along the north coast and in Catalonia, which was only occupied by the Muslims for about a hundred years, and then in León and Castile. Their architectural styles vary greatly from region to region, and some of them contain fine frescoes as well. Romanesque style introduced the first revival of the art of sculpture since Roman times, and in Spain there are good examples of decorative carving as far back as the seventh century. It was the age of pilgrimages and many of the churches were founded along the pilgrim routes from the Pyrenees to Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, which are popular destinations for travellers in Spain today.
<>Romanesque Churches of Spain, which covers a hundred and twenty churches in Catalonia, Aragon, Navarre and the Basque Country, Cantabria, Castile, León, Asturias and Galicia, and includes no less than twenty pre-Romanesque churches in the Visigothic, Asturian and Mozarabic styles of 600-1000, many with exotic features such as the horseshoe arch, is the first comprehensive book to be published on the subject.
<>It is a perfect companion for travellers, with its ten maps and its regional arrangement, and will be a stimulus for the exploration of wild and remote areas that are unfamiliar to many people, especially across the Pyrenees and in the mountainous areas of Aragon, Cantabria and Asturias. It will also be invaluable as a reference book, with its 262 illustrations, for all those with a general interest in the history of Spanish architecture and sculpture, many of the churches possessing outstanding examples such as Santiago de Compostela, Jaca, Soria, Agramunt, Ripoll, Armentia, Estíbaliz, Sangüesa, Santo Domingo de Silos and San Pedro de la Nave.

Author

Peter Strafford is a distinguished journalist who worked on The Times for more than three decades, including in Paris and Brussels, and was, among other things, the Times correspondent in New York for five years and a leader-writer in London commenting on international affairs. His last position was editor of The Times’s special reports on foreign countries, many of which he visited himself, including several in South America and Spain itself. His acclaimed Romanesque Churches of France has recently been reprinted.

Contents

Acknowledgement vi
Place Names vi
Glossary ix

General Introduction 1
Historical background 12
Monasteries 21
Pilgrimages 25
Before Romanesque 32

Catalonia
Introduction 33
Barcelona: Sant Pau del Camp 37
Besalu 40
Bossost and the Vall d'Aran 42
Cardona 44
Corbera 47
L'Estany 49
Frontanya 52
Gerri de la Sal 54
Girona 55
Lleida 60
Montserrat: Santa Cecilia 64
Poblet, Santes Creus, Vallbona de les Monges 65
Ponts and Agramunt 71
Ripoll 74
Sant Benet de Bages 80
Sant Cugat del Valles 83
Sant Joan de les Abadesses 86
Sant Pere de Casserres 89
Sant Pere de Rodes 91
La Seu d'Urgell 94
Tarragona 100
Taull and the Vall de Boi 102
Terrassa 111
La Tossa de Montbui 115

Aragon
Introduction 117
Aguero 119
Alquezar 122
Huesca 126
Jaca 130
Larrede 135
Loarre 137
San Juan de la Pena 141
Siresa 146
Sos del Rey Catolico 147
Uncastillo 150

Navarre and the Basque Country
Introduction 155
Armentia 156
Estella 162
Estibaliz 168
Eunate 172
Leyre 174
Sanguesa 180
San Vicentejo 186
Torres del Rio 188
Tudela 192

Cantabria
Introduction 195
Castaneda 196
Cervatos 198
Santa Maria de Lebena 201
Santillana del Mar 203

Castile and La Rioja
Introduction 209
Avila 211
Banos de Cerrato 217
Fromista 220
Quintanilla de las Vinas 223
Rebolledo de la Torre 225
San Baudelio de Berlanga 228
San Cebrian de Mazote 231
San Esteban de Gormaz 235
San Lorenzo de Vallejo 239
San Millan de la Cogolla 241
San Pantaleon de Losa 244
San Pedro de Tejada 247
San Quirce 251
Santa Maria de Wamba 253
Santo Domingo de Silos 258
Segovia 266
Sepulveda 283
Soria 284

León
Introduction 293
León 295
Sahagun 302
Salamanca 305
San Miguel de Escalada 309
San Pedro de la Nave 313
San Pedro de las Duenas 316
Santa Marta de Tera 318
Santiago de Penalba 321
Toro 323
Zamora 326

Asturias
Introduction 337
Oviedo: Camara Santa and Santullano 338
Oviedo: Santa Maria de Naranco and San Miguel de Lillo 342
San Salvador de Priesca 346
San Salvador de Valdedios 348
Santa Cristina de Lena 350

Galicia
Introduction 353
Aciveiro 355
Cambre 358
Celanova 361
Mondonedo 362
Santa Comba de Bande 365
Santiago de Compostela: Cathedral 367
Santiago de Compostela: Santa Maria de Sar 380
Vilar de Donas 383

Index 386