Martin M. Miles' photos with the keyword: fire spitting

Mosteiro de Vilar de Frades (aka Mosteiro de São Salvador) is located east of Barcelos. A convent may have existed here already in the second half of the 6th century. After the Reconquista the monastery was refounded and rebuilt here and in 1059 Benedictine monks lived here. During the reign of Sancho I of Portugal (1185-1211) a Romanesque church was erected of which some parts still exist. Around 1400 the monastery was given up, but revitalized from 1425 by Mestre João Vicente. The monastery got enlarged and existed upto 1834. Today the buildings house a home for disabled people and sheltered workshops. The portal of the Romanesque church is now "integrated" into the church´s facade. The portal was taken down and rebuilt in the early 19th century. So this may not the original state. There are three archivolts with some interesting (and enigmatic) carvings. There are three archivolts with some interesting (and enigmatic) carvings. Here are (outer archivolt) a well dressed lady. Manuel L. Real ("Portugal Roman", Edition Zodiaque) sees a dancer. She is followed by a fully armed knight and a mythivcl dragonlike animal, spitting fire.

"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 too 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" (here seen from east) 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". - Seen here is the medieval (aka "classic") division of roles between men and women. While she holds the horse, he has to fight a fire spitting dragon. - I have uploaded many photos already taken during previous visits. So I will now add only a few.