Santa María de Arbas Collegiate Church
City: Arbás del Puerto
BIC date: BIC June 3rd, 1931
Its strategic location soon drew an Augustinian community of monks whose duty was to watch and protect pilgrims and travelers. Its biggest splendor took place in the 12th century and first half of the 13th. Its later decline reduced it to a parish. It was restored after the Spanish Civil War by Luis Menéndez Pidal, who was buried there in a sepulcher at the Northern wall. More architectural elements were added to its structure, mainly in the 17th and 18th centuries.
It has a basilica-shaped layout with three naves split into three sections. There is a triple apse with a semicircular main chapel and quadrangular, side apses covered with barrel vaults. Cruciform pillars separate the naves. Additionally, these pillars have columns attached, and rest rounded arches lean on them, as well as pointed bond stones. The central vault has star motifs, while the side naves are covered with edge vaults. The main façade, protected by an 18th century portico, is made up of a rounded arch with three archivolts above semicolumns.
Unique in the province, it unites Asturian Romanesque with the one from Zamora and Salamanca.
USEFUL DATA
Address: 24690, Arbás del Puerto (León)
Phone number: 987598009 (Town council)
Opening hours: The priests at the residence provide visits.
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