The Collegiate church of San Pedro de Cervatos (

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

: ''Colegiata de San Pedro de Cervatos'') is a

collegiate church In Christianity, a collegiate church is a church where the daily office of worship is maintained by a college of canons: a non-monastic or "secular" community of clergy, organised as a self-governing corporate body, which may be presided over by ...

located in

Campoo de Enmedio Campoo de Enmedio is a municipality located in the autonomous community of Cantabria, Spain. According to the 2007 census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. The church was built around 1129. It has been protected by a heritage listing (currently ''

Bien de Interés Cultural A Bien de Interés Cultural is a category of the heritage register in Spain. The term is also used in Venezuela and other Spanish-speaking countries. The term literally means a "good of cultural interest" (" goods" in the economic sense) and incl ...

'') since 1895.

The entrance

The main entrance of the church is framed by a series of

archivolt An archivolt (or voussure) is an ornamental moulding or band following the curve on the underside of an arch. It is composed of bands of ornamental mouldings (or other architectural elements) surrounding an arched opening, corresponding to the ...

s. The tympanum is profusely carved with vegetal motifs that are reminiscent of Al-Andalus art. The tympanum is supported by two superposed

lintels A lintel or lintol is a type of beam (a horizontal structural element) that spans openings such as portals, doors, windows and fireplaces. It can be a decorative architectural element, or a combined ornamented structural item. In the case of ...

. The one above is decorated with six lions while the one below with a vegetable motif. The archivolts are plain and stand on capitals decorated with animals and birds. The doorway is protected by a cornice sustained by

corbels In architecture, a corbel is a structural piece of stone, wood or metal jutting from a wall to carry a superincumbent weight, a type of bracket. A corbel is a solid piece of material in the wall, whereas a console is a piece applied to the st ...

carved with figures of dancers, monkeys and other fantastic creatures. Between the brackets, the metopes have also been sculpted with images of animals, birds and strange characters. On the right hand side of the doorway an inscription in

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

states that the church was built around the year 1129. A second inscription, also in Latin, explains that it was consecrated to Saint Peter in the year 1199 by bishop Marin, while he was abbot Marin.

The apse

The exterior of the apse shows a great variety of sculptural motifs both in the windows as well as in the

brackets A bracket is either of two tall fore- or back-facing punctuation marks commonly used to isolate a segment of text or data from its surroundings. Typically deployed in symmetric pairs, an individual bracket may be identified as a 'left' or ' ...

under the cornice. Many of these sculptures depict explicit sexual images, which was not unusual in Romanesque Art.

The interior

The interior consists of a single nave covered with gothic vaults. Only the head of the church retains the original Romanesque elements. The interior of the apse is decorated with an

arcade Arcade most often refers to: * Arcade game, a coin-operated game machine ** Arcade cabinet, housing which holds an arcade game's hardware ** Arcade system board, a standardized printed circuit board * Amusement arcade, a place with arcade games * ...

of round arches that stand on sculpted capitals, the whole inspired by the art of

Cluny Cluny () is a commune in the eastern French department of Saône-et-Loire, in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. It is northwest of Mâcon. The town grew up around the Benedictine Abbey of Cluny, founded by Duke William I of Aquitaine in ...

. The capitals are decorated with either vegetable designs or figurative motifs such as fantastic animals and birds.

The tower

The bell toward was built at a later stage than the church, probably towards the end of the 12th century, around the time it was consecrated by bishop Marin. Fundación Santa María la Real, Enciclopedia del Románico en la Península Ibérica, Cantabria - pp 1182

Gallery

File:Cervatosvista.jpg, Campoo de Enmedio File:Colegiata de San Pedro de Cervatos (4976963099).jpg, The church of San Pedro File:Cervatos portail tympan 1.jpg, The tympan of the south door File:Cervatos portail ébrasure E a.jpg, Decorated capitals of the south door File:Cervatos chevet baie E a 03.jpg, Window of the south apse File:Cervatos chevet baie E a 06.jpg, The tower

References

12th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Spain Romanesque architecture in Cantabria Bien de Interés Cultural landmarks in Cantabria Collegiate churches in Spain