Sos del Rey Católico - Iglesia de San Esteban

Sos del Rey Católico is a quaint, historic town with a population of just over 600. Founded as "Sos" by Sancho I of Pamplona during the Reconquista in the early 10th century, the town changed its name to Sos del Rey Católico, after Ferdinand II of Aragon (aka "el Católico") was born here in 1452. The town is built on a mountaintop. You enter it by foot through the medieval gates, as the old walls, that surround the town still exist.

The building of the "Iglesia de San Esteban" (= Saint Steven) started already mid of the 11th century, financed by Estefania de Foix, young widow of Garcia Sanchez III of Pamplona. The church got enlarged and altered over the next centuries many times. A narthex with gothic vaults was added within the 16th century to protect this Romanesque portal from the 12th century against the weather, but it did not protect against the vandalism of the following centuries.

The icons of the archivolts around the tympanum are damaged and weathered, but I have the impression they were hard to "read", when they were created already. Strange scenes, strange stories and very strange creatures. Here is a haunting couple, escaped from a nighmare. - Seeing this smile of horror, I think of "Saint Anthony's Fire", a widespread poisening due to bread made from ergot-infected grain. This "fire" ("ignis sacer") is often connected to "bad trips" and halluzinations.