Church Of Santa Maria De Siones, Burgos on:
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The Church of Santa Maria de Siones is located in the Valley of Mena, part of the ''
File:Quintanilla de Siones - Iglesia de Santa Maria de Siones 04.jpg, The western entrance
File:Siones20110502100852p1110174.jpg, The southern entrance
File:Santa Maria de Siones - Interior Sta Juliana.jpg, Santa Juliana fighting a demon
File:Santa Maria de Siones - Interior.jpg, Hanging corbel
File:Santa Maria de Siones - Abside.jpg, Apse interior
The Church of Santa Maria de Siones is located in the Valley of Mena, part of the ''comarca
A ''comarca'' (, or , or ) is a traditional region or local administrative division found in Portugal, Spain and some of their former colonies, like Brazil, Nicaragua, and Panama. The term is derived from the term ''marca'', meaning a "march, ...
'' of Las Merindades
Las Merindades is a comarca located north of the province of Burgos, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is bounded on the north-west by the province of Cantabria, north-east by the province of Biscay, south by La Bureba, south ...
in the Province of Burgos
The Province of Burgos is a province of northern Spain, in the northeastern part of the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is bordered by the provinces of Palencia, Cantabria, Vizcaya, Álava, La Rioja, Soria, Segovia, and Valladolid. ...
, 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 ...
. The oldest reference to this church dates from 1001. The church was declared a '' Monumento nacional'' in 1931, and it is one of the most important and best preserved Romanesque churches of the Valley of Mena, despite the 19th-century restorations that altered its original scheme and replaced some of its sculptures with new statuary.
The building
The building plan follows the standard Romanesque style, with a single roundedapse
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 ...
on the eastern side. The layout is basilica
In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica is a large public building with multiple functions, typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek East. The building gave its name ...
l, with two small chapels on both sides of the main nave. There are two entrances to the church, one on the western façade and a second one on the south façade.
The interior
The church's interior is richly decorated with sculpture that, although unrefined, is highly expressive. In the southern chapel is a relief representing Santa Juliana pulling the hair of a kneeling devil. The capitals show a variety of motifs, mostly demons and fantastic animals. A hanging corbel is decorated with the charming head of a character that looks out over the border. The northern chapel has a capital with a scene of fighting knights of good quality making. The other capitals also show scenes of fights, and a relief on the western side of the chapel probably represents Christ's temptations. The apse is decorated with blind arcades on two levels. The columns, the arches and the capitals are richly ornated. Some show scenes from the Old Testament, such as Adam and Eve or the fight between David and Goliath. Others depict the harvesting of grapes, as well as various animals and monsters.Fundación Santa María la Real, Enciclopedia del Románico en la Península Ibérica, Burgos - pp 2008-2009Gallery
References