Category: Liminal Space

As I mentioned yesterday, Santa María de Los Arcos is a warren of small chapels and side altars. Here we see a baroque, or possibly rococo, altar through a much earlier decorated romanesque archway. I simply love this level of decorative detail, as well as the historical style mashup that you get in these old churches. In them, you can […]

A door lock in Los Arcos. Unfortunately, I cannot now remember if this was on the church or some other building. I suppose I’ll just have to go back and find out. I just love these ornate and fiddly little details, and I mourn that so much beauty and craftsmanship is so easily discarded or ignored these days. Date: 06 […]

The four of us ducked into the long porch of the Iglesia de Santa María de Los Arcos to regroup and figure out which of the town’s albergues looked the most promising. Of course, I snapped a photo of the church’s magnificent entrance. In the end, we chose the albergue with the longest name. Date: 06 April 2013Place: Los Arcos […]

As we leave the village church of San Andrés de Monjardín, it’s worth taking a moment to look at the door and, perhaps more impressively, the lock on the door. They don’t make them like that any more! I wish I’d gotten a shot of the key, which the next door neighbour used to unlock the church for us. Date: […]

At the top of the steps, we come to the 13th century entrance to this 12th century church. The archivolts are a lovely, if eccentric, blending of late Romanesque and Arabic sculptural design. Unlike other archivolts of this era, it is almost entirely bereft of the images of angels and saints, instead favouring geometric and floral design. In we go! […]

The main entrance to the Iglesia San Miguel in Estella is a wonder of Romanesque sculpture. The tympanum (that’s the bit over the doors) depicts Christ the Teacher enthroned, a favourite of early medieval Christian art in both the East and West. He is surrounded by the symbols of the four Evangelists and, flanking them, are the Blessed Virgin Mary […]

In the grassy yard surrounding the Iglesia de la Asunción de Villatuerta, we found this medieval baptismal font. I’m not entirely clear why it was here rather than in the church, but it is truly massive. If you had a step-stool, you could probably use it for full immersion baptisms. After this, the Camino continued through Villatuerta for a short […]

This is the parish church, one of four in Mañeru, is la Iglesia de San Pedro de Mañeru. The Pope depicted in stone above the entrance is, in fact, Saint Peter himself. What I find most curious is the shadowy sundial. I wonder if the clock on the bell tower displaced it from its sunnier and more logical placement. Date: […]

This rather dramatic archway leads out of town and over the bridge for which the town is named: the Bridge of the Queen. For me, this is one of the great, magical images of the Camino, as it practically demands that you follow the yellow arrow and see where the Way will lead you. I believe that this was once […]

Complimenting yesterday’s “not a door“, here we come to the actual door next door. As with the mysterious Pope statue, all of these statues are damaged in a way that indicates (to me at least) that somebody was taking pot-shots at them at some point. Who are these statues meant to represent? Well the church across the street is dedicated […]