The designation ''arte'' (or ''arquitectura'') ''de'' (''la'') ''repoblación'' (literally, "art or architecture of herepopulation") was first proposed by José Camón Aznar in 1949Although presented in a conference in 1949, it was not published and widely read until 1963. Cf. Utrero Agudo (2006), p. 35. to replace the term

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 ...

as applied to certain works of

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...

from the Christian kingdoms of northern Spain between the end of the 9th and beginning of the 11th centuries. Camón argued that these buildings were related stylistically to the architecture of Asturias and owed little to Andalusian styles. Moreover, since they were built by Christians living under Christian rule, neither were they Mozarabic (the

Mozarabs The Mozarabs ( es, mozárabes ; pt, moçárabes ; ca, mossàrabs ; from ar, مستعرب, musta‘rab, lit=Arabized) is a modern historical term for the Iberian Christians, including Christianized Iberian Jews, who lived under Muslim rule in A ...

being the Christians of Muslim Spain).Canellas López and San Vicente (1996), p. 93. In Spanish historiography, the ''

Repoblación The ''Repoblación'' (, ; pt, Repovoação, ) was the ninth-century repopulating of a large region between the River Duero and the Cantabrian Mountains, which had been depopulated in the early years of the Reconquista. In the reign of Alfonso ...

'' is the expansion of Christian settlement in the

Duero The Douro (, , ; es, Duero ; la, Durius) is the highest-flow river of the Iberian Peninsula. It rises near Duruelo de la Sierra in Soria Province, central Spain, meanders south briefly then flows generally west through the north-west part of ...

basin and the

Meseta Central The ''Meseta Central'' (, sometimes referred to in English as Inner Plateau) is one of the basic geographical units of the Iberian Peninsula. It consists of a plateau covering a large part of the latter's interior. Developed during the 19th cent ...

in the 9th–10th centuries.

History

The religious influences were inevitable given the presence of the Islamic state of the

Caliph of Córdoba A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...

, which was highly developed culturally, artistically and economically. However, it had long been suggested that the monumental buildings in northern Spain from this period were crafted by the modest groups of

immigrants that settled in the areas of repopulation when the living conditions in Muslim

al-Andalus Al-Andalus translit. ; an, al-Andalus; ast, al-Ándalus; eu, al-Andalus; ber, ⴰⵏⴷⴰⵍⵓⵙ, label= Berber, translit=Andalus; ca, al-Àndalus; gl, al-Andalus; oc, Al Andalús; pt, al-Ândalus; es, al-Ándalus () was the M ...

became difficult to bear. As stated by professor Isidro Bango Torviso, suggesting that these immigrants were responsible for these buildings would be akin to suggesting that: The art and architecture of the ''

'' is identified as the third subset of the Hispanic

Pre-Romanesque Pre-Romanesque art and architecture is the period in European art from either the emergence of the Merovingian kingdom in about 500 AD or from the Carolingian Renaissance in the late 8th century, to the beginning of the 11th century Romanesqu ...

period, by the phases that correspond to the

Visigothic art and architecture The Visigoths entered Hispania (modern Spain and Portugal) in 415 and they rose to be the dominant people there until the Umayyad conquest of Hispania of 711 brought their kingdom to an end. This period in Iberian art is dominated by their st ...

and

Asturian architecture Pre-Romanesque architecture in Asturias is framed between the years 711 and 910, the period of the creation and expansion of the kingdom of Asturias. History In the 5th century, the Goths, a Christianized tribe of Eastern Germanic origin, arrived ...

. Its architecture is a summary of elements of diverse extraction, irregularly distributed, in such a way that on occasion elements of paleo-Christian, Visigothic or Asturian origin come to predominate, while at other times Muslim characteristics come to the fore.

Characteristics

Some of the identifying characteristics of the ''Repoblación'' ecclesiastic architecture are: * Basilica or centralized plan; sometimes with opposing

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''. ...

s. * Main chapel on a rectangular plan on the exterior and ultra-semicircular in the interior. * Use of the

horseshoe arch The horseshoe arch (; Spanish: "arco de herradura"), also called the Moorish arch and the keyhole arch, is an emblematic arch of Islamic architecture, especially Moorish architecture. Horseshoe arches can take rounded, pointed or lobed form. Hi ...

of Muslim derivation, somewhat more closed and sloped than the Visigothic. * Generalized use of the horseshoe arch doorway or

alfiz The alfiz (, from Andalusi Arabic ''alḥíz'', from Standard Arabic ''alḥáyyiz'', meaning 'the container';Al ...

. * Use of the twin and triple windows of Asturian tradition. * Roofs composed of segmented vaults, including traditional barrel vaults. * Grouped columns forming composite pillars, with

Corinthian capitals The Corinthian order (Greek: Κορινθιακός ρυθμός, Latin: ''Ordo Corinthius'') is the last developed of the three principal classical orders of Ancient Greek architecture and Roman architecture. The other two are the Doric order w ...

decorated with stylized elements and cinctures joining the capital to the columns. * Walls re-enforced by exterior buttresses. * Evolution of rafter ornaments to great lobed offsets that support very pronounced eaves. * Decoration similar to the Visigothic based on volutes, swastikas, and vegetable and animal themes forming projecting borders. * A great command of the technique in construction, employing principally ashlar by length and width. * Absence or sobriety of exterior decoration. * Diversity in the floor plans, with small proportions and discontinuous spaces covered by

cupolas In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, most often dome-like, tall structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome. The word derives, via Italian, fro ...

(groined, segmented, ribbed of horseshoe transept, etc.).

Examples

The most representative buildings of the genre are: :*

Monastery of San Miguel de Escalada San Miguel de Escalada is a monastery in the province of León, Spain, located 10 km from the Way of St. James pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela. The building is an example of Mozarabic art and architecture or Repoblación art and ...

(

Province of León León (, , ; ; ) is a province of northwestern Spain in the northern part of the Region of León and in the northwestern part of the autonomous community of Castile and León. About one quarter of its population of 463,746 (2018) lives in the ca ...

) :* Hermitage of Santo Tomás de las Ollas (

) :* Church of Santiago de Peñalba (

) :* Church of Santa María de Wamba ( Province of Valladolid) :* Church of San Cebrián de Mazote ( Province of Valladolid) :* Monastery of San Román de Hornija ( Province of Valladolid) :* Chapel of San Miguel, Celanova ( Ourense) :* Hermitage of Santa Céntola y Santa Elena de Siero (

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 Valladoli ...

) :* Hermitage of Santa Cecilia de Barriosuso (

) :* Church of Santa María, Retortillo (

Cantabria Cantabria (, also , , Cantabrian: ) is an autonomous community in northern Spain with Santander as its capital city. It is called a ''comunidad histórica'', a historic community, in its current Statute of Autonomy. It is bordered on the east ...

) :* Hermitage of San Juan Bautista de Barbadillo del Mercado (

) :* Church of San Vicente del Valle (

) :* Tower of Doña Urraca, in Covarrubias (

) :* Church of Santa María, Lebeña (

) :* Hermitage of San Román de Moroso,

Arenas de Iguña Arenas de Iguña is a municipality located in the autonomous community of Cantabria, Spain. According to the 2007 census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given p ...

(

) :* Hermitage of San Baudelio de Berlanga, Caltojar (

Province of Soria Soria is a province of central Spain, in the eastern part of the autonomous community of Castile and León. Most of the province is in the mountainous Sistema Ibérico area. Demographics It is bordered by the provinces of La Rioja, Zaragoza, ...

) :* Monastery of San Juan de la Peña,

Jaca Jaca (; in Aragonese: ''Chaca'' or ''Xaca'') is a city of northeastern Spain in the province of Huesca, located near the Pyrenees and the border with France. Jaca is an ancient fort on the Aragón River, situated at the crossing of two great ...

(

Province of Huesca Huesca ( an, Uesca, ca, Osca), officially Huesca/Uesca, is a province of northeastern Spain, in northern Aragon. The capital is Huesca. Positioned just south of the central Pyrenees, Huesca borders France and the French Departments of Haute-G ...

) :* Church of San Pedro de Lárrede (

) :* Monastery of San Millán de la Cogolla (

La Rioja La Rioja () is an autonomous community and province in Spain, in the north of the Iberian Peninsula. Its capital is Logroño. Other cities and towns in the province include Calahorra, Arnedo, Alfaro, Haro, Santo Domingo de la Calzada, an ...

) :* Monastery of San Salvador de Tábara ( Zamora) :* Church of Sant Cristòfol, Cabrils (

Province of Barcelona Barcelona (, ) is a province of eastern Spain, in the center of the autonomous community of Catalonia. The province is bordered by the provinces of Tarragona, Lleida, and Girona, and by the Mediterranean Sea. Its area is .Church of Sant Julià de Boada ( Province of Girona) :* Church of Santa Maria de Matadars (

Province of Barcelona Barcelona (, ) is a province of eastern Spain, in the center of the autonomous community of Catalonia. The province is bordered by the provinces of Tarragona, Lleida, and Girona, and by the Mediterranean Sea. Its area is .Spain in the Middle Ages Spain in the Middle Ages is a period in the History of Spain that began in the 5th Century following the Fall of the Western Roman Empire and ended with the beginning of the Early modern period in 1492. The history of Spain is marked by waves ...

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 ...

Notes

References

*Bango Torviso, Isidro G. "Arquitectura de la decima centuria: ¿Repoblación o mozárabe?" ''Goya: Revista de arte'' 122 (1974), pp. 68–75. *Bango Torviso, Isidro G. "Arquitectura de repoblación", pp. 167–216. In Javier Rivera Blanco, Francisco Javier de la Plaza Santiago and Simón Marchán Fiz (eds.), ''Historia del arte de Castilla y León'', Vol. 1, Prehistoria, Edad Antigua y arte prerrománico. Valladolid, 1994. *Camón Aznar, J. "Arquitectura española del siglo X: Mozárabe y de la repoblación". ''Goya: Revista de arte'' 52 (1963), pp. 206–19. *Canellas López, Ángel; San Vicente, Ángel. ''Rutas románicas de Aragón''. Madrid, 1996. *Martínez Tejera, Artemio Manuel. "El contraábside en la arquitectura de la repoblación: el grupo castellano-leonés", pp. 57–76. ''III Curso de Cultura Medieval. Seminario: Repoblación y Reconquista (Centro de Estudios del Románico, Aguilar de Campoo, septiembre 1991)''. Madrid, 1993. *Martínez Tejera, Artemio Manuel. "La arquitectura cristiana hispánica de los siglos IX y X en el ''Regnum'' Astur-leonés". ''Argutorio'' 14 (2004), pp. 9–12 *Monedero Bermejo, Miguel Ángel. ''La arquitectura de la repoblación en la provincia de Cuenca''. Cuenca, 1982. *Moreno, Manuel Gómez. ''Iglesias mozárabes''. Madrid, 1917. *Utrero Agudo, María de los Ángeles. ''Iglesias tardoantiguas y altomedievales en la península ibérica: análisis arqueológico y sistemas de abovedamiento''. Madrid, 2006. *Werckmeister, O. K
"Art of the Frontier: Mozarabic Monasticism"
pp. 121–32. In

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

, ''The Art of Medieval Spain, A.D. 500–1200''. New York, 1993. {{DEFAULTSORT:Repoblacion Art And Architecture Reconquista Romanesque architecture in Spain