We were back to my dear Spain again !! love it !! We came by car of course and took time to see some new towns with my sons and our dog Rex ! I rented a small house in a off the beaten path country town that was just perfect ! I like to continue the saga of our new road warrior experiences even if now with less in our family,This post is on my latest road warrior tour of wonderful sublime Spain. Therefore, let me tell you about the former church San Martin of Arévalo !!! Hope you enjoy the post as I.
The town of Arévalo is in the province of Avila, in the Autonomous Community of Castilla y Léon , in the kingdom of Spain, Only 73 km from our rental house in Velliza and 126 km from Madrid, We were going to Madrid with book reservations and had extra time in the morning so I took my road warrior mode on and came in off the A6 highway to see this wonderful town passed many times and finally in, This is a new town and find in my world map, Spain is huge of beautiful towns, working on it still….
The former church of San Martín also called “of the Twin Towers”, is located in the Plaza de la Villa. Its first written mention dates back to 1250; It has a tapial nave and two towers, a hollow the Torre de los Ajedreces or chess tower, and another solid the Torre Nueva or new tower was built in the 12C by the lineage of the tapia as a place of burial and joints, and remecha , except the towers that are primitive and the porch added in the 13C. A Romanesque atrium, of beautiful capitals worked although very deteriorated, and a baroque altarpiece. It is the only Romanesque church preserved in Arévalo. It is divided into three floors of folded semicircular arches that are blinded and whitewashed. The only central vain flared on each of its faces and the top where the chess boards are. The new tower of poorer appearance at the foot of the church, its first floor is followed by two with half point arches on the upper side blinded which give it a certain verticality. Finally, the porticoed gallery on the south side is one of the few conserved examples of this element in the province of Ávila. Its primitive physiognomy was transformed when, in the 14C, the chapel of Los Muñoces was built, attached to the side of the epistle of the chancel. The chapel of the Ungria dates from the 16C.The chapel of the Gospel was built at the beginning of the 18C. Culminating the process, the primitive Romanesque apse is eliminated and the current chancel and transept are built, with a dome and baroque altarpiece dedicated to San Martín, whose image decorates the central niche.
The Twin Towers. The oldest of them is call Torre de los Ajedreces or Chess, for the twelve boards of that game, which holds on the four sides of the three -story body, of locking arches folded half a point and boxes in Alfiz. The lower part of the tower is the most interesting because it has a kind of frieze where sunk boxes alternate with an inner arch and chess and bricks decoration in spike or fish spine. Also known as Torre Vieja is the lowest. Inside and in the low body, it presents an extraordinary and original vault. It does not seem to house bells and is considered the possible minaret of the old mosque that, according to the documentation, existed next to the Christian temple and has no stairs inside. The Nueva Torre or New Tower dates from the 12C has a first body of masonry walls with brick yarns, smooth except for some saetera. The upper body has two half -point folded arches surrounded by Alfiz, a floor of four blind arches runs, again remarked by Alfiz. Its origin could be as a defensive surveillance tower, to which the bell body would later be added. It is smooth with corners and brick greenish, with Rajuela stone masonry.
It stopped having religious functions in 1911 and was converted into silo of the National Wheat Service as the State is owner. At the beginning of the 21C, it was rehabilitated by the social work of Caja de Ávila (savings bank) for use as a cultural space. It is currently restored and hosts an exhibition hall known as Espacio Cultural de Caja de Ávila or Cultural Center of the Caja de Avila. Nothing remains of his nave and his Romanesque style bedside.
The City of Arévalo on its heritage : https://arevalo.es/turismo/que-ver-y-hacer/
The Castilla y Léon regional tourist office on Arévalo : https://www.turismocastillayleon.com/en/heritage-culture/arevalo
There you go folks , another wonderful nostalgic, sentimental trip to my dear Spain, Do not know when we will be back, we sure will have this trip in our hearts forever, Again, hope you enjoy this post on the former church San Martin of Arévalo !!! as I
And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!
Paris1972-Versailles2003 