Speak the Culture: Spain: Be Fluent in Spanish Life and Culture

The essentials of Romanesque architecture in Spain

So how do you recognise Spain’s Romanesque

architecture? The key feature is the rounded arch, the

simple half-circle device found throughout the church

in doorways, windows and in the structure of the nave

itself. Stone barrelled vaulting was the technique of

choice for ceilings. The buildings, nearly all churches

(a handful of bridges also survive), are simple, sturdy

affairs within and without. Wall paintings and silverware

would have livened the modesty of dark interiors lit via

small clerestory windows, and sculpture was often

integral to Romanesque churches. The genre became

more flamboyant as time went by, with Santiago de

Compostela’s elaborately sculptured 12thcentury

portals hitting the highest creative note. While the stout

Romanesque buildings of northern Spain are easy to

recognise, subtle variations in style occurred in the

different regions. For example, in Segovia, north of

Madrid, Romanesque architects added arcaded side

porches to their churches, while in Catalonia they went

crazy for burly bell towers.

Spain’s Gothic odyssey

While Romanesque’s route into Spain wasn’t always

clear, Gothic’s was – it came straight from France in

the late 12thcentury. Over the next four centuries its

influence ebbed and flowed, mingling with regional,

Moorish and alternative European styles to establish

a rich pattern of churches, castles and civil buildings.

Early on it was French Cistercian monks who

introduced Gothic to Romanesque. The monastery of

La Oliva, Navarre, built circa 1170, is oft quoted as the

earliest example of this new Gothic strain, its rather

dour Romanesque hulk softened by rose windows.

In the following century Spain chewed on the High

Gothic of northern French cathedrals but never quite

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Monastery of Santo

Domingo de Silos

An early Romanesque

marvel on the Camino that

took its lead from France

but also has a Moorish

twang to its ceiling.

Church of Sant Climent

Catalonia’s unique take

on Romanesque reached

its height here in Taüll

with a six-storey bell

tower, complete with

quintessential rounded

arches.

Santiago de

Compostela Cathedral

The high point of

Spanish Romanesque

at the Camino’s

end. The outside is

shrouded in more recent

ornamentation, but the

inside remains loyal to

its 12thcentury origins.

Three

Romanesque

wonders

of Spain

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