Martin M. Miles' photos with the keyword: dolio

Saint-Étienne is the parish church of Macqueville, a village of a population of about 300. The western front looks very unspectacular, compared to most Romanesque churches of the Saintonge, but there are many corbels along the nave and a very nice side portal. Here is a row of corbels. Fltr - a flute player - a hare (between them is a dolio) - a beard-puller ande a contortionist.

Saint-Georges is located in the center of the village Saint-Jeanvrin (pop. ~200), what means probably since the early times "la fête" is celebtrated right here. We arrived, when the preparation were still ongoing. The church was erected in the first half of the 12th century and then was dedicated to Saint Janvier (= Januarius) hence the name of the village. Like many other churches/priories in the area, it was depended on the Notre-Dame de Déols (about 60kms northwest). Pope Pascal II confirmed this ownership in 1115. The single nave church was erected on the blueprint of a "Latin Cross" and embellished with some nice carvings. These two musicians will join the annual fête pretty soon. The left one plays a dolio, his confrère a flute.

Since the 12th century Saint-Sylvain towers on a promontory overlooking Saint-Sauvant, a village loctaed between Cognac and Saintes. The church, erected on a Latin-Cross-plan, is a typical example for the "style saintongue". There is one dolio-player over the portal - and another (seeh nere) along the apse.

Since the 12th century Saint-Sylvain towers on a promontory overlooking Saint-Sauvant, a village loctaed between Cognac and Saintes. The church, erected on a Latin-Cross-plan, is a typical example for the "style saintongue". Here is the main portal. Note the musician on the corbel, playing a dolio.

A diocese of Dolia (the ancient name of Dolianova) existed from 1089 until 1503, when it was merged into the archdiocese of Cagliari. The "Cattedrale di San Pantaleo", the bishop's seat of the former diocese, was erected within the 12th and the 13th century. It got consecrated in 1289. The church was built in Pisan-Romanesque style. The apse, as well as the sides, the bell tower and the façade are decorated with pilasters and Lombard bands featuring numerous different sculptured motifs. As soft, local sandstones were used, most carvings are very weathered. Some stones are black meanwhile. The artists did not create very elaborate carvings, but they were very imaginative. Here is a musician playing a dolio. Somebody has carved letters into the wall left to the corbel, probably during the restauration, when a scaffolding covered this wall and the vandal could reach this place.

Radegonde (aka "Radegund", "Radegundis") was a princess, born in Thuringia around 520. She was married to Chlothar I but left her husband and founded the convent "Sainte-Marie-Hors-les-Murs" in Poitiers around 552. The nunnery was the first and became the most important in the Frankish Empire. After having received a fragment of the "True Cross" from the Byzantine Emperor Justinian I, the name of the abbey changed to "Abbaye Sainte-Croix". In 587 Radegonde was buried here. The first church was erected over her tomb. Radegonde´s remains were exhumed in 1012 for public veneration, what triggered a major pilgrimage to Poitiers. After a major fire, the church was rebuilt. The church of today, constructed from the 11th to 12th centuries, was built in a combination of Romanesque and Gothic styles. Sculptured corbels line both sides of the nave. A nude (!) musician playing the dolio.

The parish church Saint-Sulpice in the village of Marignac was erected within the 12th century as part of a priory, founded here by the Charroux Abbey (120kms southeast). The church has a remarkable cloverleaf layout. The eastern part with the side chapels and the apse and the western portal still date back to the first church here, while the outer walls of the nave have been rebuilt, after destruction by war. - As I have uploaded already many photos taken here previously, I will just add a few "new" ones. - An elaborate frieze runs around the "cloverleaf" apse. Here is a corbel with a person playing a dolio.

The abbey "Sainte-Marie d'Arthous" was founded around 1160. This was filiation of the Premonstratensian "Abbaye de la Case-Dieu" in Gers (120 kms east). The building of the church, seen here, was started soon after. It got already consecrated in 1167. The neighbouring bastide Hastingues was founded in 1289 by John Hastings, seneschal of Gascony. This was done following a treaty between Edward I of England, Duke of Aquitaine and the monks of the Abbaye d'Arthous. During the War of Religions the abbey got ruined and lost the importance it once had. Though restored, only 5 monks lived here in 1766, so after the Revolution the abbey was sold by the state - and used as a farm. The abbey church is known for some extraordinary corbels around the apses. Here are three of them: A grimacing head ("mouth puller"), a musician (playing the dolio) and a kind of lion (?) with a curly fur and a very small head. Note the small human head between the leaves to the right. A strange kind of bud.

The abbey Sainte-Trinité was founded around 1056 by Richard Turstin Haldup and his son Eudes au Capel, both Lords of the neighbouring La Haye-du-Puits. Benedictine monks from the Abbey of Bec-Hellouin (aka "Bec Abbey"), about 180kms north, settled here. In 1098 the choir of the abbey church had already been built, as Eudes died that year and got buried inside the choir. The nave was built in the first years of the 12th century. The church got consecrated in 1178, but it was not fully completed at that date. One of the key players of the Hundred Years´ War was Charles II of Navarre (aka "Charles the Bad"), who was not only King of Navarre , but as well Count of Évreux. Charles had large possessions in Northern France. His armee destroyed abbey and church in 1356. The church got rebuilt between 1385 and 1420. The last nine convents left the abbey after the French Revolution, when the convent buildings got sold as "National Property" and the abbey church became the parish. On July 1, 1944, the retreating German army blasted this church, what left nothing but a mountain of rubble. From 1945 on all remaining parts of the puzzle got scrutinized and numbered, before the reconstruction started under the direction of Yves-Marie Froidevaux. The rebuilding of the church was completed in 1958, since then again, it serves the parish. During the reconstruction after WWII, the grave of Eudes au Capel was found under the collapsed crossing tower. Over the tomb was a rib vault - in 1098. This may be the oldest rib vault all over Europe. Older than Durham (1104), Speyer (1110) and Worms (1130). On one of the corbels under the roof is a musician, playing the dolio.

San Pedro de Echano (aka "Ermita de San Pedro de Echano") is not easy to find, as the church is a few kilometers east of Oloriz in the middle of fields and bushland. In medieval times, when the church got erected, there might have been a village or settlement nearby, but nowadays there are no houses near to the church. This church was a big surprise and I was lucky, to find the door open. A wedding was scheduled for that afternoon and so the interior of the church got cleaned and decorated. Under the roof of San Pedro de Echano are more than 30 carved corbels. There is a group of musicians. This musician plays the dolio. There are even two "dolionists" here, and a third one was under the roof of San Bartolomé, only a few kilometers west. Dolios must have been very popular here more than 800 years ago. Ray ("adfinem") has some information about this instrument: www.flickr.com/photos/adfinem/sets/72157631018070244/

Early morning in the small village of Oloriz. The parish church San Bartolomé was erected within the 12th century and altered some centuries later. As the church was locked, I could only take some photos of the exterior. On of the corbels depicts a musician, playing a "dolio", an instrument that must have been popular in Northern Spain during the 12th century. Ray ("adfinem") has some information about this instrument: www.flickr.com/photos/adfinem/sets/72157631018070244/