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Saturday, December 24, 2011

France/Spain 2011 - Day 10, Part 1 - Santa María del Naranco

"In answer to the question of why it happened, I offer the modest proposal that our Universe is simply one of those things which happen from time to time." - Edward P. Tryon

***

France/Spain 2011
Day 10 - 26th March - Santa María del Naranco
(Part 1)

We started off the day by visiting the Palace Chapel of King Ramiro I of Asturias, San Miguel de Lillo. I didn't know where the rest of the palace was (we visited another building later, but presumably everything else had been wood or was otherwise destroyed).

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Sign pointing out it's a Pre-Romanesque monument

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Unfortunately it was under renovation.

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Back view

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Door

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Guy on morning mountain walk

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Guy cycling up a very steep slope. Most Spanish cyclists wear very professional gear.

Next was the splended Santa María del Naranco, also pre-Romanesque. It was built as a palace but was later converted into a church.

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Unfortunately it was swarming with a Spanish elderly tour group.

For some strange reason it reminded me of:



Probably because it was elevated, on a hill and the porch was large. Or maybe I was just feeling whimsical that morning.

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Off-side view

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Member of the group and church

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The city it overlooked (Oviedo) wasn't as pretty though

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View of the graceful pillars

The Rough Guide proclaimed this "the greatest Asturian church, indeed the architectural gem of the principality". I was inclined to agree.

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Steps up on both sides

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Through the arch

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Side

Entrance was only by guided tour, and the Spanish group had crowded us out. We were asked to wait for the next tour even though there were only 3 of us (and we had come first), but eventually we got them to let us in. This was fortunate, or we'd have had to skip it to hit León before siesta.

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Interior view: I was going to call the circles rosettes, but that's the wrong term.

Inside, it was very bare.

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Old man playing golf with his stick

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Porch

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Porch architecture

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Old people in church

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More of the circular design

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Columns

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There were some pictures of the other church, which had some cartoony wall paintings.

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Barrel vaulted roof

We then went to the basement level.

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Cross windows

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Windows from outside

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Single window

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Window detail

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Windows

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Church from side

The hills were so nice, I was tempted to do a Sound of Music thing, but we wouldn't have been able to hit León, and I had no soundtrack.

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