Rest day

The Alava (name of the province I’m in) Medieval Association gives tours on weekends to four rural churches in the area. They are all from the 12th and 13th century. Problem is, they do not provide transportation. Luckily, the first church on the list is 4 km outside of town, and I walked there with the hope that I would meet someone who would transport me the rest of the way.

And as I had suspected, it was not a problem. Not only did they take me from church to church, but they also drove out of their way to take me back to the town where I’m staying after the tour was done.

And the guide was great— a history teacher during the week and a medieval tour guide on the weekends. It really was a very fascinating visit.

The first church was St. Martin de Tours, with some very well preserved Gothic frescoes. Many of the standard Bible stories are reproduced, including the crucifixion, annunciation, visitation, etc. There are also some scenes of Santa Marina putting chains on the devil, along with a depiction of judgment day.

The most interesting church was the next one, Alaitza. I’ve never seen anything like it. 13th century paintings all over the altar area without one religious connotation. And the paintings look more like some cave drawings I’ve seen than medieval European art! The theory is that this was a privately owned church for its first couple of centuries, and for whatever reason the owners wanted to put in scenes of typical male activities and typical female activities. The males were doing things like hunting, fighting, and dying in battle, while the women were going to visit friends who had just had a baby, preparing a funeral, giving birth. Like many of the ancient frescoes that survive, these were hidden behind a big altarpiece until the 1960s. They are very well preserved.

The next two churches were interesting more for their architectural features than their paintings. Anua had some beautiful windows with capitals, and Arbulo was actually a medieval fortress converted to church once the Moors were beaten back.

There is a big outdoor concert going on a few blocks away, so I’m sure it’s going to be an earplugs night!Meer informatie