Romanesque Cultural Enclave in the North of Castile-Leon and the South of Cantabria
SpainMinisterio de Asuntos Exteriores
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Description
The high valleys of the Pisuerga and Ebro rivers, in the North of Castilla y León and the South of Cantabria regions, preserve a high number of Romanesque buildings, reaching almost a hundred monuments of this style or with important architectural or sculptural remains.
These works of medieval architecture and sculpture from the 11th and 12th centuries and part of the 13th century paradigmatically reflect the first artistic style that can be described as European, the Romanesque. They are masterpieces of this style and an example of the dissemination of an aesthetic creation that surpassed the ecclesiastical, royal and noble intellectual aura to form part of the feelings and actions of the most popular classes, constituting a very important testimony of that historical era.
The density of Romanesque works in these regions, their artistic quality, their importance in the definition and evolution of this style, their state of conservation, in many cases barely altered by the passage of centuries, their variety in multiple aspects, their integration in the surrounding environment and privileged enclave are some of the characteristics that give these works a unique value in the European Romanesque and an exceptional contribution to the cultural heritage of Humanity.