Church of Santiago (Carrión de los Condes) Facts for Kids

The church of Santiago

The Church of Santiago is a very old church found in the town of Carrión de los Condes in Spain. It stands on the main street, which is part of the famous Camino de Santiago, a historic pilgrimage route. This church was built in the middle of the 1100s, making it over 800 years old! Over the centuries, it has been changed many times, including after a big fire in 1811. Because of this, you can see a mix of different building styles in the church today. The front part, called the western façade, was built around 1160-1170 and is a fantastic example of Romanesque art in Spain.

The Amazing Western Façade
Inside the Church
Gallery
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The Amazing Western Façade

The western façade is the main front entrance of the church. It has three curved arches, called archivolts, which are covered in cool sculptures. The middle arch has 24 carved stones, called voussoirs. These stones show detailed sculptures of medieval craftsmen, musicians, and dancers. You can see their clothes and the tools or instruments they used back then! These arches rest on decorated tops of columns, known as capitals, which are supported by columns with swirly designs.

Above the doorway, there's a sculpted band called a frieze. It shows Christ Pantocrator, a powerful image of Jesus, sitting grandly inside an oval shape called a mandorla. This is a common style in Romanesque art. Around Jesus, you can see symbols of the Four Evangelists, who wrote parts of the Bible. These symbols are often called the Tetramorph. On each side of Jesus, the Apostles stand under small arches with many curves, known as multifoil arches. It looks like two different artists might have worked on this frieze. The sculptures are very lively, with dramatic poses and detailed clothing, showing lots of emotion and movement.

Inside the Church

When the church was first built, it had three long sections, called naves. But now, only one nave remains in the church's current design. Inside, there's also a small museum. It displays some religious artworks from the 1400s and 1500s.