Thin sheets of alabaster fill slit windows lighting the apse of the Iglesia de San Caprasio, an early-1000s AD Romanesque pilgrimage church in the Pyrenean village of Santa Cruz de la Serós in Huesca, Aragon, Spain. The church was probably the work of the Lombardi, nomadic masons and craftsmen from Lombardy, Italy, responsible for building other ancient churches in Aragon and Catalonia.
Santa Cruz de la Serós, Huesca, Aragon, Spain: slit windows filled with thin sheets of alabaster light the interior of the eastern apse of the austere 11th century Romanesque Iglesia de San Caprasio, a pilgrimage church dedicated to the Gaulish martyr, St Caprasius. The church, built around 1020 to 1030 AD, shows a distinct northern Italian influence, suggesting that it was probably constructed by Lombardi, itinerant master masons, craftsmen and artists from Lombardy whose work can be found in other ancient Pyrenean churches. This small semicircular eastern apse is typical of the Lombard-Romanesque style, with its thick stone walls pierced by round-arched, deep-splayed slit windows between the engaged stone columns of a blind arcade. The church was built during the reign of Sancho the Great, the powerful King Sancho Garcés III of Pamplona. Its patron saint, Caprasius of Agen, was martyred by the Romans in the 4th century AD and later venerated by Christian pilgrims travelling the Camino de Santiago, the Way of Saint James route to Santiago de Compostela in northwestern Spain. The route lies some 3 km or 2 miles from Santa Cruz de la Serós. San Caprasio consists of a single nave with two cross vaults, with the eastern apse surmounted by a barrel vault. The building has not undergone any substantial alterations since it was built, apart from the 12th century addition of a bell tower. Inside, its rough ashlar stone walls are unadorned, the lack of decoration adding to the impression of ancient austerity and simplicity. In 1089, the church was given by the Diocese of Jaca to the nearby royal monastery of San Juan de la Peña, one of the most important medieval monasteries in the Kingdom of Aragon and a superb example of Iberian Romanesque architecture and art.
Size: 2821px × 2821px
Location: Santa Cruz de la Serós, Huesca, Aragon, Spain
Photo credit: © Terence Kerr / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
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