Although its origins do not differ, in principle, from the great existential enigma that comes with the great majority of these authentic jewels of our Romanesque peninsular, its details, together with its peculiar symbolism - among which numerous solar references are not lacking - make to this small church of San Esteban de Aramil, in all a reference of Romanesque art in Asturias.

Also known as the Knights, there are researchers who see in their development a foreign action in which the possible presence of the Order of the Temple in the place is not ruled out as an anecdotal element.

Evidently, there is no historical documentation that supports it (1), although there are paradigmatic elements, generally related to that marginal universe, which is tradition.

Located in the council of the Pola de Siero, in the vicinity of the Autovía to Santander, one could think of it, as in a small cultural oasis of the XII-XIII centuries, lost between meadows and fields of labor.

It has two covers: the main one, on the south side, and a secondary one on the west side. The ship is rectangular, being semicircular the shape of its apse, in whose metopes and corbels, most of the solar symbolism that commented at the beginning of this entry takes place.

While on the west portal, the most significant element is that capital that represents a peculiar character, generally known as a green man (2) and the enigmatic stone skull that is seen above the cover itself (3), is, nevertheless in the south cover, where we find elements related to other nearby temples, which are part of the best of local Romanesque, referred to the Villaviciosa.

Two of those temples are, for example: San Juan de Amandi and Santa María de Lugás.

Such elements are, essentially, the adornments in the form of saw teeth or waves - resembling the waves of the sea - as well as the birds, of probable Norman origin - their peculiarity, which means that at first they can be confused with marine beings- that occupy the decoration of the central archivolt.

Other elements in whose symbolism we can find analogies or links with temples of other neighboring councils, even farther from the coast are, apart from the metopes with plant and sun representations, the caduceus formed by two entwined snakes and the monster devouring a human being , of which only the lower part appears later.

This last motive, is very common in Burgalese temples, being the others -caduceo and metopas- very similar to those that can be observed in the church of Santa María de Narzana, located in the neighboring council of Sariego, approximately two kilometers from Vega , the capital, within the Asturian Jacobean Way, that from Oviedo, would link with the Primitive Way, the one that followed Alfonso II the Chaste with his court.

Notes, References and Bibliography:

(1) In fact, one could affirm, without risk to exaggerate or disregard the truth, that the historical documentation in the Principality shines by its absence. Independently of that during the revolt of the mining basin of 1934 and the vicissitudes of the Civil War a lot of documentation was lost, the biggest loss, perhaps, occurred during the exclaustration, a fact that has gone down in history as the confiscation of Mendizábal.
(2) I wonder if, apart from the numerous references associated with this type of images, relatively common in Romanesque and later adopted in other architectural styles -don of languages, primitive innocence, reminiscences of Celtic origin, etc- we are here, also, with a possible reference to an ancient cult to Diana and the so-called priest-kings, in charge of the custody and protection of the sacred place, generally located in forests, on the banks of rivers and springs.
(3) There was a time when it was placed on the wall of the nearby cemetery, although there are several researchers who say that it may have belonged to the temple.

NOTICE: Originally published in my ROMANIC blog, ENIGMAS DEL ROMÁNICO ESPAÑOL. Both the text and the accompanying photographs are my exclusive intellectual property. The original entry, where you can check the authorship of juancar347, can be found at the following address: https://juancar347-romanica.blogspot.com/2012/01/romanico-asturiano-san-esteban-de.html

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