The Church of San Bartolomé (

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

: ''Iglesia de San Bartolomé'') is the oldest church of

Logroño Logroño () is the capital of the province of La Rioja, situated in northern Spain. Traversed in its northern part by the Ebro River, Logroño has historically been a place of passage, such as the Camino de Santiago. Its borders were disputed b ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. Its construction dates back to the 12th century, so partly preserves Romanesque style in the head and in the initial part of the tower, and continues during the 13th century, with the

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

style development, building the magnificent arched portal, which contains some Romanesque sculptures that tell the life of saint

Bartholomew Bartholomew (Aramaic: ; grc, Βαρθολομαῖος, translit=Bartholomaîos; la, Bartholomaeus; arm, Բարթողիմէոս; cop, ⲃⲁⲣⲑⲟⲗⲟⲙⲉⲟⲥ; he, בר-תולמי, translit=bar-Tôlmay; ar, بَرثُولَماو� ...

and other

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

passages. It has been protected by a heritage listing (currently ''

Bien de Interés Cultural A Bien de Interés Cultural is a category of the heritage register in Spain. The term is also used in Venezuela and other Spanish-speaking countries. The term literally means a "good of cultural interest" ("goods" in the economic sense) and inclu ...

'') since 1866. The Church of San Bartholomé is located in the Landmark No. 9 on the

Way of St. James The Camino de Santiago ( la, Peregrinatio Compostellana, "Pilgrimage of Compostela"; gl, O Camiño de Santiago), known in English as the Way of St James, is a network of pilgrims' ways or pilgrimages leading to the shrine of the Twelve Apostle ...

, a

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

. It is located 612 km from

Santiago de Compostela Santiago de Compostela is the capital of the autonomous community of Galicia, in northwestern Spain. The city has its origin in the shrine of Saint James the Great, now the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, as the destination of the Way of St ...

Scenes from the porch

The scenes of the portal consist of 19 vignettes. Starting at the far right, in the first scene is San Bartolomé saving king Polemon's lunatic daughter, three tables, a man (1), a woman (2) and the Saint (3), the fourth is empty but could have been Polemón. In the second is the saint in a painting (5) and a group of maidens in another (6), who are evangelizing in court. In the third, the Saint is expelling the demon from the pagan idols, and converting the rest, angering some priests. This part consists in the following tables: the priests (7), the idol Berith on a column and praying under (8) and the Saint with a box in hand expelling the devil (9). In the following two tables (10 and 11) the Saint is led by a soldier to the king Astyages. On the far left might have been some scene, which may have been destroyed to build the Monesterio Palace. The twelfth box is empty. In tables 13-16 Bartholomew defeats the idol Baldach, who Astyages loves and making command him flogging for his anger, but orders pulling him to pieces because it seems insufficient punishment. We can see him tied by the four limbs being skinned on a table holding by three female figures: lust, vanity and laziness. Tables 18 and 19 show San Bartolomé preaching with his own skin over his shoulder. The tympanum of ''Cristo Redentor'' of the cover is moved down because in the 16th century stonemason Pedro de Acha reformed the chorus and makes a small window in order to illuminate the place. From this reform is also created the Renaissance arch behind this choir.

Structure

The basilica has three naves separated by octagonal pillars covered with a

groin vault A groin vault or groined vault (also sometimes known as a double barrel vault or cross vault) is produced by the intersection at right angles of two barrel vaults. Honour, H. and J. Fleming, (2009) ''A World History of Art''. 7th edn. London: L ...

, highlighting the Romanesque crossing and

apse In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an ''exedra''. In ...

, because there is not any altarpiece but it had a major altarpiece in its day, 18th-century style, painted in white and gold with great resemblance with the Holy Martyrs of

Calahorra Calahorra [] ( an, Calagorra, la, Calagurris) is a municipality in the comarca of Rioja Baja, near the border with Navarre on the right bank of the Ebro. During Ancient Rome, Ancient Roman times, Calahorra was a municipium known as ''Calagurris ...

Tower

During the fifteen days which Logroño resisted the siege of the French army in 1521, the tower was hit by enemy artillery suffering damage, because it is near the defensive walls of the city, and guarded the Herbentia gate, near the old town hall. Years later it was rebuilt in brick, with Mudejar style influences from

Aragón Aragon ( , ; Spanish and an, Aragón ; ca, Aragó ) is an autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces (from north to sout ...

. During the

First Carlist War The First Carlist War was a civil war in Spain from 1833 to 1840, the first of three Carlist Wars. It was fought between two factions over the succession to the throne and the nature of the Monarchy of Spain, Spanish monarchy: the conservative a ...

optical telegraph An optical telegraph is a line of stations, typically towers, for the purpose of conveying textual information by means of visual signals. There are two main types of such systems; the semaphore telegraph which uses pivoted indicator arms and ...

station was located in the tower. Spain was spanned by an extensive semaphore telegraph network in the 1840s and 1850s. File:Logroño - Iglesia de San Bartolome 16.jpg, Mudejar tower File:Logroño - Iglesia de San Bartolome 07.jpg, Tympanum of the porch File:Logroño - Iglesia de San Bartolome 03.jpg, Romanesque apse

Secularisation and surroundings

As a result of the

Ecclesiastical confiscations of Mendizábal {{Short pages monitor