Notebooks of Art and Photography. Selection # 9
There are hardly any vestiges of that Visigothic Spain that definitively collapsed in the year 711, when the Muslims penetrated the Iberian Peninsula and massacred the armies of King Rodrigo in the famous battle of the Guadalete River.
Even of this, the last of the Visigothic dynasty, there are scabrous legends, who want to see in him a perverse sovereign, who was characterized by belonging to a warrior line that frequently carried out acts of treason and where his nobles used to be staunch to the participation in conspiracies, given his irrepressible obsession with power.
Far from this socio-political aspect and possibly alien to the fantasy displayed by other architectures that would later be introduced in Spain, the few testimonies that have survived to our days, do not leave behind a certain mysterious charm.
Based on the Greek cross plan –the four equal sides- and basilical shape, the Visigothic churches are a sensory call to attention towards that eternal struggle between light and darkness, which metaphorically could be said to represent the thinking of high medieval man.
The darkness that reigned in its interior was barely dissipated by the weak rays of light that penetrated through its windows, which in many cases consisted of little more than loopholes, which offered a truly gloomy appearance, which could not go unnoticed by the superstitious. mentality of a congregation always shy of the fear of the wrath of God.
What does not mean, obviously, so that externally and seen as a whole, they can be considered as compact buildings, not lacking in beauty, to which their builders also applied the concepts of Sacred Geometry, since it has been verified that they knew the number golden.
Today, they constitute a fascinating embers of what could well be defined as a lost world: that of that Hispania that succeeded none other than the Western Roman Empire.
NOTICE: Both the text and the accompanying photographs are my exclusive intellectual property and therefore are subject to my Copyright.
The artists, and the builders new what they were doing. Modern architecture do not really last long. They should have a secret we dont really know, i think.
Well, they had many secrets, since in this type of construction they applied the so-called Sacred Geometry, so everything had a very special symbolism. Unlike today, those medieval stonemasons were craftsmen, as they were from other guilds: carpenters, silversmiths, blacksmiths, etc. and they did their work conscientiously. Now it is built piecemeal, not with those hard stone materials, but with materials that are lighter and therefore less durable. Thanks for your comment
This is very true about most modern architecture and art
Hello @juancar347, These constructions date back many years, however they are still standing, it is a pity that they are so forgotten
True, it is a real shame that they ended up in such a humiliating way.