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Mystery and Art on the Camino de Santiago: Santa María de Narzana, Asturias

Mystery and Art on the Camino de Santiago: Santa María de Narzana, Asturias

June 2019 · 5 min read · Sariego

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This interesting Romanesque church of Santa María de Narzana is located, two kilometers from Vega, the capital of the council of Sariego. Elevated on a valley in which, as usual, the different shades of vegetation captivate with their vitality and beauty, it is observed, product of their successive restorations, the latticework that, in the manner of a porch and characteristic in the vast majority of Asturian churches, protects the entrance porch, giving it a peculiar appearance.
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Among these modern additions, it should be mentioned, as a curiosity to be taken into account, the distribution of the floor that covers the porch: a central medallion on which numerous branches, in the manner of radios, impinge. This same design, said as anecdotal, can also be seen in the hermitage of octagonal plant of Santiago, nailed, along with another hermitage of plant and simpler details -the one of the Magdalena- in the top of the Monsacro.
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Some authors say (1), that even if a priori forgetting the detail of its apparent simplicity, Santa María de Narzana was a monastic foundation, presumably -this is added to it- in the middle of the 12th century or the beginning of the 13th century.
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In those times we must place the flared doorway, as well as other interesting decorative elements incorporated in its apse. It is interesting to know, also, that some of these elements coincide, to a greater or lesser extent, with those that can be seen in other churches, located in neighboring councils. It could be the case, without going any further, of the church of San Esteban de Aramil, which is located in the neighboring council of Pola de Siero, a short distance from the Santander’s Highway.
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The cover, even though the ravages of time-induced fires and looting included, which do not allow to guess in some cases its elements, offers an interesting symbolic sample, which can begin to talk, commenting, for example, capitals.
On both sides, the motif of the capitals matches: vegetables and faucets.
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The faucets of the capital on the right, however confronted, show a detail that may or may not be relevant, but which is certainly curious: the number of fingers on the legs and claws of these fantastic animals varies from three to four.
Interesting is to be considered, as well, by the solar symbolism that entails, the plant motifs in the form of a swastika or hammer of Thor, of a levorotory nature due to its leftward orientation or, if preferred, in the inverse sense to the movement of the clock hands.
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Above the capital on the left, and as a border, there is a hunting scene that, in a way, complements other uses and customs that are glimpsed in the metopes located on the upper part of the porch, together with the symbolic theme developed by the stonemason in the canecillos.
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Among the reasons for the aforementioned metopes, we can highlight a wrestling scene, a possible Adoration, Daniel surrounded by lions, and a kind of solar disk, which could very well be formed by one or several coiled snakes.
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On the other hand, among the representations of the corbels, there are some that, objectively speaking, can be described as everyday scenes -various characters, including a man armed with a bow- and, of course, the monsters, representative, in principle, of vices and sins.
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Common, as in many other temples of the Principality, in the portico there is no lack, as well, the wavy motifs that, apart from representing the sea, with its eternal movement transmitted in the waves, can also make reference to the foreign origin of the builders
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This wavy motif can also be found in the central window of the apse, the decorative motif of the capitals being vegetal or foliaceous. Also here, in the apsidal zone, the illustrative sequences formed by metopes and corbels are repeated, in which, apart from floral motifs, it is repeated, and in several occasions, that solar representation, that previously mentioned, venturing the possibility that it could be formed by one or several coiled snakes. An ouroboros, perhaps ?.
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Finally, and in reference to the reasons illustrated by the corbels, it can be observed that these, referring to some contraptions that could be weapons, deep to be exact, are repeated; as they are repeated, moreover, that they carry a message -we must suppose that evangelizer- represented by a character of clerical aspect, who shows an open book in his hands.
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Towards the center, approximately, of the half circle formed by the apse - in similar position and of similar characteristics to that one that is located in the church of San Esteban de Aramil - two snakes coiled on a kind of stick or stick, make up the caduceus of Hermes, later assumed by the Roman god Esculapio and ancestral symbol of medicine.
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Notes, References and Bibliography:

(1) Luis Díez Tejón: 'Pre-Romanesque and Romanesque in Asturias', Ediciones Lancia, 3rd edition, 2008, page 81.

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NOTICE: Originally published in my blog ROMANICA,E NIGMAS 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/2011/11/camino-de-santiago-asturiano-santa.html

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