Martin M. Miles' photos with the keyword: basilisk

In 1043 Hemma of Gurk (canonized in 1938) founded the Benedictine double monastery of Gurk Abbey, where she withdrew during the last years of her life. After Saint Hemma´s death, the abbey was dissolved by the Archbishop of Salzburg, who instead set up the Diocese of Gurk-Klagenfurt in 1072. The "Gurk Cathedral" is a large Romanesque basilica, built 1140 - 1220. The crypt got consecrated already in 1174 and since then hosts the grave of Saint Hemma of Gurk, still a place of pilgrimage. The Dome has no transept - but three apses. The central apse has a nice carving. A lion kills griffin. For a while, I saw a basilisk, but now I see it is a griffin.

San Andrés was erected on a little hill, that was settled already in pre-Roman times, as recent excavation proved. The tiny hamlet Soto de Bureba is part of the village Quintanaélez (pop. ~ 100). An inscription above the portal gives the construction date of 1175. During medieval times the area must have been much more densely populated, as later even a second nave was added to the structure. The parish church is known for its wonderful, sculpted portal, seen here. The arches have an interesting, but somehow strange iconography. Some of the icons are pretty unique. There is a collection of really fantastic and mythical beasts. Here is a Basilisk (Cockatrice), a hybrid consisting out of a rooster and a snake. This one even has heads on either side.

The Jaca Cathedral is one of the oldest of the Iberian peninsula, dating back to the 1070s. The building, that was altered many times later, was commissioned by King Sancho Ramírez, who established an episcopal seat in Jaca, then the capital of the Kingdom of Aragon. The western portal of the cathedral has some extraordenary works of medieval art. The carvings are delicate, smooth and detailled. The very experienced artist is unknown, but art-historians gave him the name "Master of Jaca". Seen here is the tympanum. A very specific chrismon, flanked by two lions. Under the lions are a human and a snake (left) and quadruped (bear?dog?wolf?) and a basilisk. There are many inscriptions, that I could not read, but - I finally found this (spanish/english) website with very knowledgable information: www.romanicoaragones.com/0-Jacetania/06-Catedral-ing-04a.htm

This church, dedicated to Saint Martin of Tours, was a real surprise to me. The single nave structure was probably erected within the 12th century. It was built in a "walking distance" off the pilgrim routes (like "San Pedro de Echano"), as the hamlet Artaiz is just about 10kms north of the "Camino Aragonés". San Martin will have been for sure a stopover for pilgrims, who had visited the tomb of Saint Martin of Tours, following the "Via Turonensis". The portal of Saint Martin is extraordinary in the specific iconography, that in parts may reflect the relations to the Islamic neighbours (Reconquista). Here is a script by German arthistorian Hedda Finke about this subject. art.unt.edu/medieval-symposium/presenter.php?year=2009&am... There are six capitals flanking the entrance. The quality of these carvings is just extraordenary. Though weathered many details are still visible. Hedda Finke compares them to ivory carvings! Here are the three capitals, that are on the right side of the door.

The former Abbey Church in the village of Saint-Jouin-de-Marnes, that now serves the parish, has a total length of 72,30 meters and all of the 600 people living in Saint-Jouin-de-Marnes would easily find a chair inside. The church is a gem of poitevin architecture. When Prosper Mérimée visited Saint-Jouin-de-Marnes mid 19th century, the church were in a very bad state. Photograps taken some decades later show, that the facade was ruined. Prosper Mérimée efforts started a reconstruction and renovation process. The first renovation, that finally saved the church, was undertaken from 1889 to 1920. Different workshops created the carvings in the Abbey Church, built in only about 40 years. Most carvings are rough, compared to the style and virtuosity that was common in the Poitou-Charentes a century later. Here are two fighting basilisks (or cockatrices). They are watched from the corners above by two snakes (?). The history of the abbey dates back to the 4th century, when Jovinus (French "Jouin") in 342 founded a small oratory near a place named Ensio. Not much is known about Jovinus. He may have been borne in a wealthy family. It is believed, that his was brother of Saint Maximin, the first Bishop of Treves. The oratory developed into a monastery over the next decades, that was the second monastery existing in France, just after Saint-Martin-de-Ligugé, founded by St. Martin of Tours himself in 361. During the 7th century, the bishop of Nantes asked Martin de Vertou to christianise the area. This mission led him to Ension where he imposed Saint Benoit’s rule. The small monastery was never threatend by the Normanic raids, as it was far away from large rivers. So it could offer refuge to the monks of "Saint Martin de Vertou", who left their monastery and brought the relics of their founding Saint, in 843. The erection of the Abbey Church took place between 1095 and 1130, when an old Roman road, known under the name of "Saint Hilaire’s Way" was followed by pilgrims on their way to Santiago. At that time the road was one of the many that belonged all to the "Via Turonensis". During the 100 Years´War and during the Wars of Religion the monastery got attacked and plundered. The Battle of Moncontour between the Catholic armee and the Huguenots was fought in 1569 only about 5kms west. Monastic life was ended by the French Revolution in 1789. The Abbey was sold as national property. The church serves as a parish church since 1795. Parts of the former conventual buildings now belong to a privatly owned farm, next to the church.

There had been a small community of monks here, that end of the 11th century joined the important Benedictian Abbaye royale of Saint-Jean-d'Angély (20kms northwest), that was part of the cluniac network. The Abbaye royale got wealthy through the thousands of pilgrims on the Via Turonensis. They all stopped to see the relic of John the Baptist, before they continued, and obviously left some coins. The abbey could afford to build a prestigious abbey church for the monastic comunity in Marestay (now Matha) at the same time, when Saint-Hérie (see previous uploads), just 2kms apart from here, was erected. Probably the same monks, lay brothers and workers toiled on two construction sides in long double shifts. During the Wars of Religion many curches within the whole area got ruined and mutilated. In Saint-Herie, 2kms south, only two walls of the Romanesque church are still in place. Here the complete nave is missing. After the "Edict of Nantes" got revoked in 1685, all Huguenots living in Matha were evicted and exiled. Following that all protestant churches existing in the town got leveled to the ground. The only parts of Saint-Pierre that survived the incredible fury are the apse, the transepts and the crossing. Many capitals and corbels are still in place and can be found outside. Here are two nicely combed basilisks symmetrically chew on their tails, while to the right a creature with curly hair (and probably four legs once) devours a human (soul).

"Saint-Pierre d'Aulnay" is a church outside of Aulnay, in the center of an old graveyard. The setting has not changed for centuries. For the pilgrims of the 12th century this church was a major halt - and it still is for all the tourists... A predecessing church „Saint-Pierre-de-la-Tour“ had been here, that, when the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostella got more and more popular, was obviously to small, as Aulnay was conveniently situated between Poitiers and Saintes on the Via Turonensis. A new, larger church was needed, so the place was handed over to the chapter of the cathedral in Poitiers. The canons then probably planned this church, that was erected from about 1130/1140 on. "Saint-Pierre d'Aulnay" is a gem of the "style saintongeais". For Peter Strafford ("Romanesque Churches Of France") this is "one of the best examples of late Romanesque architecture in what used to be Aquitaine". Saint-Pierre´s "South Porch" is what attracts busloads of tourists to stop in Aulnay. And they are right.The "South Porch" is mindblowing. The most outer archivolt is the most spectacular one. So far the icons were somehow in an expectable "christian tradition" (Elders, Saints), but here mythical beasts and fantastic hybrid creatures come to life. Some of these chimerae probably derive from medieval Bestiary, while others seem to come straight from a drug related nightmare. A man´s head planted on the body of a (male) cloven hoofed animal, that may be a deer. The creature wears a cape and seems dancing and singing. In the center stands a kind of basilisk, that following the medieval the Bestiaries, is a bird having the tail of a snake. Actually this is a very special hybrid, as it has not only a snake´s tail, but a man´s bearded head as well. To the right a man standing on paws fights a small hairy beast.