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The becoming of the
old monastery into Collegiate Church –when the
Benedictines left and the order of Saint Agustin came to
rule it- happened in the mid-twelfth century, when the
actual temple was built, in a Romanesque style; the
biggest in all the Cantabrian coast. Its three apses and
three naves structure follows the style of Fromista
(Palencia) and the international Romanesque that enters in
Castilla thanks to the pilgrims' road to Santiago de
Compostela.
The sculpture in
its front, the capitals… evoke the main topics of the
medieval religiousness, in particular the fight between
Good and Evil and the need of doing penance and the
importance of the forgiveness to save our souls from hell.
This message is shown through allegories and different
symbols (animals: lions, pelicans, pigeons, ravens,
snakes, goats… vegetables: apples, brackens, acanthus,
lily, vine, grapes, pineapples) and some human scenes.
In the middle of the cruiser it is the “Santa
Juliana” sepulchre, whose relics are kept in the
altarpiece, with the coats of arms of the “Casa de la
Vega”.
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The master
altarpiece is an excellent Hispano-Flemish
fifteenth-century work of art, with pictorial panels about
the martyrdom of the saint and sculptures of apostles and
evangelists. The front of the altarpiece is a magnificent
piece of mexican silversmith's craft. In the chorus there
is a splendid baroque organ, and in the bautismal chapel,
apart from the Romanesque font, there is an excepcional
pantocrator (dated from 1200).
The cloister, leaned against the north façade, shows
in its 42 capitals of a wide theme a complete evolution in
the Romanesque sculpture. Near its walls there are several
sarcophagus, with heraldic motifs of relevant priests and
members of the nobility.
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