Italian-style bell-tower of Romanesque Church of Sant Climent, built in the early 1100s, in Vall de Boí village of Taüll, Catalonia, Spain.
Taüll, Vall de Boí, Lleida, Catalonia, Spain: round-arched mullioned openings in all four faces of the soaring belfry beside the 12th century Romanesque Church of Sant Climent de Taüll grow winder or taller as they ascend towards the upper bell chamber, making the massive structure seem lighter and more airy. Despite its height and bulk, the Italian-style campanile complements the basilica below, which successfully blends Romanesque, Lombardic and Byzantine architecture and art and is regarded as a jewel of the early Romanesque style. Sant Climent, consecrated in 1123, is the biggest and best preserved of the nine Romanesque churches that, with associated chapels and hermitages, earned UNESCO World Heritage site status for the Vall de Boí in November 2000. The church has three naves, each ending in a rounded eastern apse pierced by typically Romanesque round-headed narrow slit windows. Simple Lombardic arcades sculpted in volcanic pumice stone decorate all three apses below their rooflines. Sant Climent was built as Christianity thrived in the high Pyrenean valleys, despite much of Spain being under Moorish occupation. Silver deposits enriched local dignitaries, who employed nomadic skilled master builders and sculptors, known as Lombardi, to construct places of worship in fashionable imported styles.
Size: 2832px × 4256px
Location: Taüll, Vall de Boí, Lleida, Catalonia, Spain
Photo credit: © Terence Kerr / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
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