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- JACA. CATHEDRAL OF SAN PEDRO - NORTH FAÇADE-

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(LA JACETANIA)

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In order to view the north façade of the cathedral one must pass through the diocesan museum, which is housed in what was once the cloister, and out into the old cloister space.

The original appearance is best seen from here despite the elevation of both the central nave and north aisle in order to construct the present roofs.

The transept with its large window [9, 11 and 14] and the four windows of the north aisle can be seen.

1CAPITEL ARCÁICO EN VENTANAL DEL MURO DE LA NAVE NORTE

According to authors such as Marcel Durliat (La sculpture romane de la route de Saint-Jacques. De Conques à Compostelle. Marcel Durliat, Mont-de-Marsant 1990), it is in this part of the cathedral where its oldest capitals are to be found. One of these is on the exterior of the second window, from the east end, of the north aisle [1]. It is decorated with plant volutes, and on its abacus there are what appear to be feline figures with primitive features. In the interior of the cathedral, in the same area, there is another capital with a nude figure wielding a kind of scimitar decorating its abacus. I believe, however, that the ‘scimitar’ is, in fact, a musical instrument, a horn.

2ÁNGULO NOROESTE DEL TEMPLO Y CLAUSTRO3DETALLE DE LA TORRE-PORCHE4VENTANALES DEL MURO NORTE, CON DECORACIÓN PROFUSA

Photos 2 and 3 show the north-western corner of the cathedral and cloister; the porch tower of the cathedral entrance and also the lantern of the chapel of Santa Orosia stand out due to their height.

5VENTANAL DECORADO6VENTANAL DECORADO7VENTANAL SIN CAPITELES-COLUMNAS-ARQUIVOLTA DE BAQUETÓN

The decoration of the large windows of the north wall is varied. The two windows nearest to the eastern end of the cathedral [4 to 6] are richly decorated with an abundance of chequerboard pattern friezes, archivolts with baquetón or large roll moulding, capitals and little columns, while the two nearest the west end [7 and 8] are devoid of columns, capitals and baquetón. It is as if the same adverse circumstances which resulted in large capitals inside the cathedral being put in position still unfinished, had also affected this area, resulting in some windows being left uncompleted .

8VENTANAL SIN CAPITELES-COLUMNAS-ARQUIVOLTA DE BAQUETÓN910UNIÓN NAVE NORTE-TRANSEPTO

Photo 10 is a view of the point of union between the outer wall of the north aisle and the gable end of the north arm of the transept and clearly shows that they are aligned with each other. Photos 11, 12 and 14 are all views of the enlarged window of the gable end of the north arm of the transept.

11VENTANAL NORTE DEL TRANSEPTO1213VISTA NOROESTE DEL TEMPLO

Photo 13 reveals an angle of the cathedral, not often seen, taken from the north-west, from a building in the square known as Plaza San Pedro.

14

Traducción cortesía de Bridget Ryan.

Asociada de "Amigos del Románico"

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