Situated on a hill close to the village, this is popular, austere architecture; it has a crude porch and only one nave. The austerity outside contrasts with the pictorical wealth of its inside walls that conserve a rich ensemble of XIV century lineal Gothic style or Franco-Gothic paintings. These depict the torture of San Valero, San Vicente and Santa Catalina.
Visits: Ask for the key in the village. During the summer season there are guided visits.
Temple, national monument, distinguished and renowned for its murals belonging to the lineal XIV century Gothic style, Ximeno de Foces ordered its construction in 1249 for the family tomb. Donated in 1259 to the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, it belongs to the period of transition between the Romanesque and the Gothic.
You can see the real treasure on the side walls of the temple: four wall arches with their corresponding tombs in pairs, decorated with frescos in the lineal Gothic style (1302). They communicate through a sort of pointed triumphal archway. The southern side of the transept is mainly dedicated to the life of St. John the Baptist, and the northern side, to passages from the New Testament, including the Annunciation, the Adoration, the killing of the Innocents, and others ... The artist, the Maestro de Foces, used a mixed technique, starting off with the fresco and finishing abruptly with colours dissolved in oil, which gave great intensity to his paintings. It would seem that the paintings on the south side of the transept are from the Castile-Leon school, and those on the north side, from a school in Avignon (France). All this is incorporated into one sole nave with a transept and upper end of three apses that combine the Romanesque and Gothic styles in their architecture.
Telephone: 974 260 290 // 636 116 019
E-Mail: aytoibieca@terra.es
Visits:
Price: individual 2 €
