Jaime Rodríguez Miranda nº27

Alejandro Ruiz nº28

Nacho Galán nº13

History

• The church of St Mary at Mount Naranco is a Roman Catholic Asturian pre-Romanesque Asturian

architecture church on the slope of Mount Naranco situated 3 kilometres 1.9 mil from Oviedo, northern

Spain. Ramiro I of Asturias ordered it to be built as a royal palace as part of a larger complex that also incorporated the nearby church of San Miguel de

Lillo, 100 meters away. It was completed in 848. Its structural features, such as the barrel vault — with

transverse ribs corresponding one-to-one with contraforts at the exterior, make it a clear precursor

of the Romanesque construction.

History • Built as a recreational palace, it is situated on the southern side of Mount Naranco facing the city, and

was originally part of a series of royal buildings located in the outskirts. Its character as a civil

building changed in the 12th century when it was converted into a church dedicated to St. Mary. The

Palace of Santa María del Naranco, involved a significant stylistic, morphological, constructive and

decorative renovation of Pre-Romanesque, supplementing it with new, innovative resources,

representing a leap forward with respect to immediately previous periods. This palace's

innovations amazed chroniclers, who repeatedly mention it over time. A case in point is the Crónica

Silense, written around the year 1015, about 300 years after its construction, and which, on

describing Ramiro I of Asturias.

Architecture • The palace, on a rectangular ground plan, has two

floors. The lower level, or crypt, quite low, has a central chamber and another two located on either

side. The upper floor is accessed via a double exterior stairway adjoining the facade, leading into an identical layout as the lower floor; a central or

noble hall with six blind semicircular arches along the walls, supported by columns built into the wall, and a mirador at each end. These are accessed via three arches, similar to those onto the wall, resting on columns with helicoidal rope moulding, typical of Pre-Romanesque. The barrel vault is made from tufa stone, and is held up by six transverse arches

resting on consoles.

Architecture• Santa María del Naranco represented a step forward from a

decorative point of view by enriching the habitual standards and models with elements from painting, gold work and the

textile arts. The rich decoration is concentrated in the hall and miradors of the upper floor, where it is especially worth noting the cubic-prismatic capitals (), decorated with reliefs framed by

cord decoration (from local tradition) in trapezoid and triangular shapes, inside which there are sculpted forms of animals and humans. This kind of motif is repeated on the

disks with central medallions located above the blind arches' intersections. The 32 medallions distributed around the

building are similar in size and shape, varying the decorative designs and the interior figures (quadrupeds, birds, bunches of

grapes, fantastic animals), a style inherited from the Visigoth period, in turn descended from Byzantine tradition.

Architecture

• The medallions have decorative bands above them, again framed by rope moulding, inside which four figures are scuipted and arranged symmetrically; the upper two carrying loads on their heads and the lower two representing soldiers on horseback carrying swords. These figures seem to have some kind of symbolic social meaning; the warriors who defend and support the men of prayer, or alternatively, the royal and ecclesiastic orders complementing each other.

Architecture

• Santa María del Naranco shows other, equally beautiful and important sculptural elements; for the first time, a Greek cross appears sculpted as emblem of the Asturian monarchy, at the same time protecting the building from all evil, something which was to become habitual in the popular architecture of towns and villages. Other sculptural elements, such as the capitals of Corinthian inspiration on the miradors' triple-arched Windows or the altar stone in the eastern mirador (make this palace the most distinctive building in Pre-Romanesque, a singularity highlighted by being the only palace complex that has lasted until the present day with both Visigothic and Carolingian court structures.

• .

Characteristics

• Santa María del Naranco shows other, equally beautiful and important sculptural elements; for the first time, a Greek cross appears sculpted as emblem of the Asturian monarchy, at the same time protecting the building from all evil, something which was to become habitual in the popular architecture of towns and villages. Other sculptural elements, such as the capitals of Corinthian inspiration on the miradors' triple-arched Windows or the altar stone in the eastern mirador (make this palace the most distinctive building in Pre-Romanesque, a singularity highlighted by being the only palace complex that has lasted until the present day with both Visigothic and Carolingian court structures.

CharacteristicsCharacteristics

In a lot of stones there are this text:In a lot of stones there are this text:

Christe filivs dei qui in vtero virginis beatae mariae Christe filivs dei qui in vtero virginis beatae mariae in gressvs es sine hv mana conteptione et egressvs in gressvs es sine hv mana conteptione et egressvs

sine corrvptione qvi per famvlvm tvvm ranimirvm sine corrvptione qvi per famvlvm tvvm ranimirvm principe gloriosvm cvm paterna regina conivge principe gloriosvm cvm paterna regina conivge

renovasti hoc habitacvlvm nimia vetvstate renovasti hoc habitacvlvm nimia vetvstate consvmptvm et pro eis aedificasti hanc haram consvmptvm et pro eis aedificasti hanc haram

benedic benedic tionis gloriosae sanctae mariae in locvm hvnc tionis gloriosae sanctae mariae in locvm hvnc

svmmvm exavdi eos de caelorum habitacvlo tvo et svmmvm exavdi eos de caelorum habitacvlo tvo et dimitte pecca dimitte pecca

ta eorvm qvi vivis et regnas per infinita saecvla ta eorvm qvi vivis et regnas per infinita saecvla saecvlorvm amen die VIIII0 kalendas ivlias era saecvlorvm amen die VIIII0 kalendas ivlias era

DCCCLXXXVIADCCCLXXXVIA . .

TranslationTranslation

The The translationtranslation is: is:

Son of God, you came into the womb of the Blessed Son of God, you came into the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary without human conception and came out Virgin Mary without human conception and came out

without corruption, that by your servant Ramiro without corruption, that by your servant Ramiro glorious prince with Queen cónyege Paterna you glorious prince with Queen cónyege Paterna you

renewed this abode consumed by the great antiquity, renewed this abode consumed by the great antiquity, and through them you built this altar of blessing to and through them you built this altar of blessing to

the glorious Saint Mary in this high place, hear 'from the glorious Saint Mary in this high place, hear 'from your dwelling from heaven and forgive their sins. your dwelling from heaven and forgive their sins.

Who live and reign for ever and ever infinite, amen. Who live and reign for ever and ever infinite, amen. Ninth day of the Kalends of July was 886 June 23, Ninth day of the Kalends of July was 886 June 23,

848.848.