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The Church of Sant Vicenç of Cardona () is a Lombard Romanesque church in Cardona,

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

, Spain. It was built between the years 1019 and 1040, and is located in the center of the

Castle of Cardona The Castle of Cardona (, ) is a medieval fortress in Catalonia, Spain. Situated on a hill overlooking the river valley of the Cardener and the town of Cardona. The fortress was initially constructed by Wilfred the Hairy in 886; it is now a hote ...

History

The church has its origins in the chapel of the Castle of Cardona, which was property of House of the

Viscount A viscount ( , for male) or viscountess (, for female) is a title used in certain European countries for a noble of varying status. The status and any domain held by a viscount is a viscounty. In the case of French viscounts, the title is ...

s of

Osona Osona () is a comarques of Catalonia, comarca situated in the Central Catalonia, central region of Catalonia, Spain. Its capital is Vic, Spain, Vic. Its population in 2001 was 129,543. Osona covers roughly the same area as the historic Catalan co ...

. (The family later took their

name A name is a term used for identification by an external observer. They can identify a class or category of things, or a single thing, either uniquely, or within a given context. The entity identified by a name is called its referent. A person ...

from this castle.) This first church was documented in 980, and was protected under the patronage of the viscounts. During the 11th century, a number of stone churches—several as a part of

Benedictine The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...

monastic complexes—began to be built in the area, though the earliest of these churches still had wooden trusses supporting the roofs. The church of St. Vincent was begun about 1019 and consecrated in 1040, under the patronage of viscount Bermon I.

Architecture

The church was built as a showpiece, and is impressive for its scale—with a height of more than . Its

building material Building material is material used for construction. Many naturally occurring substances, such as clay, rocks, sand, wood, and even twigs and leaves, have been used to construct buildings and other structures, like bridges. Apart from natur ...

cut stone Ashlar () is a cut and dressed stone, worked using a chisel to achieve a specific form, typically rectangular in shape. The term can also refer to a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, and is generally ...

, and the stonework is both austere and sophisticated, given the uniform size of the cut blocks and the quality of the masonry.

Interior

In the interior, a

barrel vault A barrel vault, also known as a tunnel vault, wagon vault or wagonhead vault, is an architectural element formed by the extrusion of a single curve (or pair of curves, in the case of a pointed barrel vault) along a given distance. The curves are ...

of stone covers the nave, which is flanked by two side-aisles. Along the nave, three

transverse arch In architecture, a transverse arch is an arch in a vaulted building that goes across the barrel vault. A series of transverse arches sitting on tops of the columns on the sides of the nave was typical in the churches of Romanesque architecture ( ...

es, which are evenly spaced, add support. Their arches continue down the piers as pilasters, complete with capitals at the springing of the arch. Rounded arches, supported by piers, open into the side aisles, which are covered with stone groin vaults. Above the nave arcade, small rounded lancet-shaped windows pierce the stone walls. The windows are evenly spaced over the arch openings. A

dome A dome () is an architectural element similar to the hollow upper half of a sphere. There is significant overlap with the term cupola, which may also refer to a dome or a structure on top of a dome. The precise definition of a dome has been a m ...

resting on squinches is over the crossing in front of the altar. The dome has an oculus opening at the top and small rounded lancet windows in the drum. This is the first known example of a basilica-plan church built with a dome in Western Europe, which represents the synthesis of sacred-building and meeting-hall typologies in the Roman tradition. At the crossing, the nave meets the

transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform ("cross-shaped") cruciform plan, churches, in particular within the Romanesque architecture, Romanesque a ...

, which is actually slightly wider than the nave. The transept, however, is short, barely emerging from the sides of the church, but still giving the structure a typical cruciform plan. Beyond it, the aisles of the church terminate in three

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

s, each sized according to the size of the aisle.

Exterior

From afar, the church's exterior is notable for the prevailing regularity of straight lines, excepting the three semicircular apses. Above the whole rises an octagonal

lantern tower In architecture, the lantern tower is a tall construction above the junction of the four arms of a cruciform (cross-shaped) church, with openings through which light from outside can shine down to the crossing (so it also called a crossing lante ...

, which corresponds to the interior dome.

Paintings

The

portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cu ...

of the church was once covered with

murals A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' is a Spanish ...

. Fragments from the three central vaults (of five) were restored in 1960 and are now displayed at the

Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya The (; ), abbreviated as MNAC (), is a museum of Catalonia, Catalan visual art located in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Situated on Montjuïc hill at the end of Avinguda de la Reina Maria Cristina, near Plaça d'Espanya, Barcelona, Pl Espanya, th ...

(MNAC) in

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

. Though the portico was built with the church in the 11th century, the frescoes themselves date to the 12th century.

Gallery

File:075 Atri de Sant Vicenç de Cardona, el Crist.jpg, Atrium vault frescoes at MNAC File:Pòrtic de Sant Vicenç de Cardona (7).jpg, Atrium File:Atrium of Cardona Defence of Girona.jpg, The Defense of Girona File:Porxos entrada Canònica de Sant Vicenç de Cardona.JPG, The atrium today File:Canònica de Sant Vicenç de Cardona - 1.jpg, Remains of the

cloister A cloister (from Latin , "enclosure") is a covered walk, open gallery, or open Arcade (architecture), arcade running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle (architecture), quadrangle or garth. The attachment of a cloister to a cat ...

File:Cripta Canònica de Sant Vicenç de Cardona 3.JPG, Church crypt File:Cardona E PM 061898.jpg, Tomb of the Dukes of Cardona File:Cardona E PM 061899.jpg, Tomb File:Castell de Cardona - 28.JPG, Apse. Note the extensive use of

Lombard band A Lombard band is a decorative blind arcade, usually located on the exterior of building. It was frequently used during the Romanesque and Gothic periods of Western architecture. It resembles a frieze of arches. Lombard bands are believed to ...

s File:Canònica de Sant Vicenç de Cardona - 7.jpg, Castle of Cardona

References

* *

External links

* {{Coord, 41, 54, 52, N, 1, 41, 10, E, source:cawiki_region:ES-CT_type:landmark, display=title 11th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Spain Vicenc, Cardona Romanesque architecture in Catalonia