Church of San Antonio Abad, Tauste

Church of San Antonio Abad

CURRENT PROTECTION STATUS: ACI

TYPE OF ASSET: Property

CATEGORY: Religious

ARCHITECTURAL STYLE: Romanesque and Mudejar

CONSTRUCTION DATE: 13th century

Located in the Arrabal district, presiding over San Antonio square, the small temple of San Antonio Abad stands alone, without any attached structures. This is a modest Romanesque building dating from the 13th century with a tower erected in the 16th century. The floor plan has a simple design consisting in a single nave with seven bays and a semicircular apse preceded by a presbytery. The interior lacks luxury and ostentation, featuring an open space of slender proportions divided only by the high choir over the west end. The apse is enclosed with a semi-dome, a pointed barrel vault encloses the presbytery and a wood roof structure over pointed diaphragm arches on the nave.

The exterior has a simple volume of a unified nature made from a combination of brick and masonry, currently coated in cement. The only distinguishing features of the façades are the compartments created by the buttresses, the simple apertures and the entrance along the north wall, as well as the blind arcade with round arches decorating the apse. The original entrance located on the south wall, containing a simple round-arched portal finished with a highly damaged relief of Saint Martin at the boss, is currently covered over with an alabaster panel.

The Mudejar-style tower attached to the west end in the 16th century was constructed in brick over a foundation of ashlars. The lower two sections have a square footprint while the upper section is octagonal in shape. Arranged simply with round-arched openings, the decoration consisting of strips of angled brick and ceramic friezes is striking.

The façade was modified in the 16th century, raising the height of the apse and building the Mudejar tower.

Interventions

Restoration, 20th to 21st century

From 1/1/2021 – 31/12/2021, the church was completely restored. The project was jointly funded by the city council, which was responsible for the exteriors, while the work in the interior was done by the Government of Aragon. The overall objectives of the intervention were to render the building structurally safe again and to solve serious moisture problems in the walls.

Projects and interventions

Projects and interventions, and the driving forces behind them, define the history of monumental buildings and how they are perceived.

Declarations

Declaration, 21st century

The Official Gazette of Aragon dated October 18, 2002 published the Department of Culture and Tourism Order of September 24, 2002 declaring the church of San Antonio Abad in Tauste (Zaragoza) a Listed Asset of Aragonese Cultural Heritage.

Bibliography

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GARCÍA GUINEA, Miguel Ángel; Pérez González, José María. (dir.). Enciclopedia del Románico en Aragón: Zaragoza. Aguilar de Campoo: Fundación Santa María la Real,

GARCÍA LLORET, José Luis. Tres portadas románicas poco conocidas en las iglesias de San Antón en Tauste (Zaragoza), San Miguel en Almudévar (Huesca) y San Salvador en Luesia (Zaragoza). Suessetania. 1999 , no 18, p. 28-44.

MENJÓN RUIZ, Marisancho. El patrimonio artístico de la Villa de Tauste [En línea]. En Tauste en su historia: Actas de las I Jornadas sobre Historia de Tauste, 13 al 17 de diciembre de 1999.

Asociación Cultural El Patiaz, 2001.p. 28-61. [Consulta: 23 de julio de 2020].<https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwYSxMNn-RKGYms3MVRwejBZeXc/vew>.

MENJÓN RUIZ, Marisancho. La iglesia de San Antón de Tauste: algunos datos sobre su historia y su restauración [En línea]. En Tauste en su historia: Actas de las X Jornadas sobre

Historia de Tauste, 9 al 13 de febrero de 2009. Asociación Cultural El Patiaz, 2011.p. 111-152.<https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwYSxMNn-RKGQ1dTcm1XTkM1M2M/view>.

MORTE GARCÍA, Carmen; Castillo Montolar, Margarita. (coord.). El retablo mayor renacentista de Tauste. Zaragoza: Institución Fernando el Católico, 2012.