The Church of St Mary at Wamba,

province of Valladolid Valladolid () is a Provinces of Spain, province of northwest Spain, in the central part of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile-Leon, Castile and León. It has a population of 520,716 people in a total of 225 munici ...

, Spain (Spanish: ''Santa María de Wamba'') is a medieval building dating back to the ''

Reconquista The ' (Spanish, Portuguese and Galician for "reconquest") is a historiographical construction describing the 781-year period in the history of the Iberian Peninsula between the Umayyad conquest of Hispania in 711 and the fall of the Nasrid ...

''. The eastern part of the building is of 10th century date, whereas the western part is 12th century. The church is of architectural interest and is being considered for

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 ...

status along with nine other

Mozarabic Mozarabic, also called Andalusi Romance, refers to the medieval Romance varieties spoken in the Iberian Peninsula in territories controlled by the Islamic Emirate of Córdoba and its successors. They were the common tongue for the majority of ...

sites. It is currently on a "tentative list" (part of the nominating process).

History

During the reign of King Recceswinth (died 672), Wamba had a royal residence and the existence of a

Visigothic The Visigoths (; la, Visigothi, Wisigothi, Vesi, Visi, Wesi, Wisi) were an early Germanic people who, along with the Ostrogoths, constituted the two major political entities of the Goths within the Roman Empire in late antiquity, or what is kno ...

church there is also known: remains of its decoration are preserved in the Museum of Valladolid. After the

Umayyad conquest of Hispania The Umayyad conquest of Hispania, also known as the Umayyad conquest of the Visigothic Kingdom, was the initial expansion of the Umayyad Caliphate over Hispania (in the Iberian Peninsula) from 711 to 718. The conquest resulted in the decline of t ...

, the area was reconquered by Christians under

Alfonso III of Asturias Alfonso III (20 December 910), called the Great ( es, el Magno), was the king of León, Galicia and Asturias from 866 until his death. He was the son and successor of Ordoño I. In later sources he is the earliest to be called "Emperor of Spai ...

, who reigned 866–910. It seems that with the subsequent repopulation, Wamba's then existing church was rebuilt. The oldest part of the current church is dated to the 10th century. There are documentary records of a monastery in Wamba at this time of which the church is assumed to have been part. It was perhaps the first Mozarabic church in the area.

Architecture

It has been suggested that Wamba was repopulated by people coming from the north and that for this reason the architecture is closer to the Visigothic and Asturian influences than other buildings in the region such as the church at San Cebrián de Mazote, a village which was repopulated by Christians who came from

Al-Andalus Al-Andalus DIN 31635, translit. ; an, al-Andalus; ast, al-Ándalus; eu, al-Andalus; ber, ⴰⵏⴷⴰⵍⵓⵙ, label=Berber languages, Berber, translit=Andalus; ca, al-Àndalus; gl, al-Andalus; oc, Al Andalús; pt, al-Ândalus; es, ...

Burials

Queen

Urraca of Portugal Urraca of Portugal (; (1148 – 1211)) was the queen of León from 1165 until 1171 or 1172 as the wife of King Ferdinand II. She was the daughter of the first Portuguese king, Afonso I, and the mother of Alfonso IX. After her marriage to Ferdina ...

became a nun after the

annulment Annulment is a legal procedure within Law, secular and Religious law, religious legal systems for declaring a marriage Void (law), null and void. Unlike divorce, it is usually ex post facto law, retroactive, meaning that an annulled marriage is c ...

of her marriage, and was buried in the church. There is an

ossuary An ossuary is a chest, box, building, well, or site made to serve as the final resting place of human skeletal remains. They are frequently used where burial space is scarce. A body is first buried in a temporary grave, then after some years the ...

Gallery

File:Iglesia de wamba.jpg, Interior of St. Mary's Church Image:Osario.jpg,

Ossuary An ossuary is a chest, box, building, well, or site made to serve as the final resting place of human skeletal remains. They are frequently used where burial space is scarce. A body is first buried in a temporary grave, then after some years the ...

of St. Mary's Church

References

Bibliography

* {{Authority control Bien de Interés Cultural landmarks in the Province of Valladolid Churches in Castile and León Mozarabic architecture Romanesque architecture in Castile and León