Romanesque Church of Sant Climent, built in the early 1100s, in Vall de Boí village of Taüll, Catalonia, Spain. An Italian-style belfry dwarfs the church and its three semi-circular eastern apses which have simple Lombard decoration and round-arched slit windows.
Taüll, Vall de Boí, Lleida, Catalonia, Spain: rounded apses at the east end of the early-12th century Church of Sant Climent de Taüll are dwarfed by its soaring, Italian-style bell-tower, its six upper floors lit by round-arched mullioned openings that grow taller and wider towards the top, conveying an impression of lightness. The church is regarded as a gem of Romanesque, Lombardic and Byzantine architecture and is the biggest and best preserved of the many ancient places of worship in the Vall de Boí. Nine churches, plus chapels and hermitages, form the most dense concentration of the early Romanesque style in Europe, protected as a UNESCO World Heritage site since November 2000. Christianity thrived in high Pyrenean valleys while much of Spain was under Moorish occupation. Silver deposits enriched local dignitaries, who built churches in imported Lombardic and Byzantine styles. Their creators were nomadic skilled master builders and sculptors known as Lombardi. Sant Climent de Taüll, consecrated in 1123, is a basilica with three naves, separated by arcades, with each ending in an apse. The church is built of granite and stone blocks, with decorative details and windows in pumice. Inside, polychrome frescoes include a vivid Christ Pancreator or Christ in Majesty by an artist known only as the Master of Taüll. The powerful image now on the central apse is a faithful replica, as the original painting has been moved for its protection and preservation to the National Museum of Catalan Art in Barcelona.
Size: 2837px × 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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