St. Martin Parish Church, Fromista: Exterior: 309 Funny Faces!

Most ever funny faces, although we're not always counting. It was the hottest part of the day, during a heat wave on the Spanish high plain, so I settled for group shots rather than all 309 individuals. Amazing. Oh, and the exterior capitals are pretty interesting too. Move over, Kilpeck!

 

St. Martin Parish Church, Fromista: Interior

A few more miles down the road--along which runs miles of the Camino de Santiago Frances--still in Palencia, is the small town of Fromista, which hosts one of the more marvelous Romanesque churches we have seen. St. Martin's (of Tours) is first mentioned in texts in 1066. The architecture is classic Romanesque, repaired and renovated at the end of the 19th century, all beautifully preserved and presented. The architecture is wonderful, but it is the sculpture, mostly the capitals, that really get your attention. Then, on the outside, there are 309 carved corbels--funny faces!--most ever! And that will require an additional post.

St. Martins, Fromista

Different view

Helpful model, showing the damage prior to re-construction
beginning in 1896

Different view of model

Crossing

Bow to stern

Stern to bow

Chancel

Several nice Romanesque-era polychromes...

St. Martin himself; 12th century, as I recall

"Buen Camino, Pilgrim!"

Incense bomb, often seen in Camino churches (water was scarce
in those times)

Vaulting

Elevation

A selection of the beautiful capitals

Construction theme?

Ditto

But wait! There's more...

Roman Villa of La Olmeda

Some miles east of Leon, in the province of Palencia, still in Castille y Leon, is the Roman villa of La Olmeda, its ruins discovered only in 1968, and now another ancient site beautifully protected, preserved and presented by the Spanish government. La Olmeda dates from the 3rd and 4th centuries, one of apparently many villas in the region. From the excellent video shown at the site, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYF541T2gbg, one can see La Olmeda was no mere retreat nor holiday house for elites, but rather an agricultural center, a predecessor to the feudal system associated with later centuries. What attracted and impressed us were the mosaics. Virtually the whole villa floor was done in mosaics, many still quite intact. If not the best mosaics we have seen in the Roman world, they are certainly the largest single site, and in situ too. The complex is completely enclosed now under controlled conditions, and the presentation is high tech and quite accessible.

The aire de camping-cars in Leon; we lucked into the only shade
there was, which we happily bequeathed to fellow Nederlanders
when we left

Approaching the La Olmeda complex; it reminded us of the
Terra Cotta Warriors complex in Xian, and also the neolithic
village preserved there

Inside; a couple or more acres thus enclosed

Helpful digital model; a residence for the owners plus housing
for tenants, household areas, baths, manufacturing areas, etc.

Basically you walk around and through the villa on catwalks

The mosaics are mostly intricate designs, some running nearly
the length of the villa

 

The main hall had a giant mosaic, hunting scenes, Hercules
and other mythological scenes

The usual Roman under-floor heating system

 

Contemporary mosaic repair/reconstruction
implements

A very long mosaic run; longest we have seen anywhere

The one reconstruction... the bit of grass in the upper left shows
the surface when the villa ruins were discovered in 1968; all
this mosaic was only a foot or two beneath the fields then

Lost and found; mostly replicas; the real finds, very limited,
are in a town museum nearby

Very neat place; the YouTube videos are well worth watching;
and in English too

Real Time Update #119

Our mifi expired after we left Leon, June 20th, and with less than a week to go, we didn't re-up. Consequently, I fell somewhat behind in blogging. Today is July 1st, and I still have half a dozen posts to do from Spain and Andorra (!). After putting Le Duc into storage in Figueres, we took the bus to Barcelona, stayed there overnight, and then flew, via Helsinki (!), back to San Francisco, June 27th, picked up Le Sport from storage in Union City, and have been parked in Rebecca's driveway since. Jet lag, a scheduled dental procedure, and an issue with Le Sport's refrigerator (a loose wire, it turned out) have kept us occupied, but not as pleasantly as seeing our Sweet Pea and her parents.

Flamenco is very serious dance