Carrión de los Condes, Palencia

Monastery of San Zoilo

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Today the monastery of San Zoilo is largely a baroque edifice, due to its reconstruction in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. However, in the eleventh and twelfth centuries the monastery was one of the most important on the Iberian Peninsula, at times overseeing the branch of the Cluniac Order in Spain. In the 1990s, restoration attempts led to the discovery of magnificent Romanesque remains hidden by the later reconstruction. The main discovery was the eleventh-century church's west portal, complete with four sculpted capitals. Explore 3D models of these below. 

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[Right-most]

San Zoilo

Group of Detached Capitals

There are six detached capitals--three figural and three vegetal--that have been found during the recent renovations and excavations of San Zoilo. Those sculpted on all four faces seem to have been from the medieval cloister (today destroyed and rebuilt in Plateresque style), while the others may have been from various places in the church. 

[Detached cloister capital]

[Detached cloister capital]

Lions

 

Eight lions are distributed across the capital's faces. Their legs create a rhythmic pattern across the shafts terminating the capital and leading to the supporting columns. Traces of the original polychromy remain.

[Detached cloister capital]

Vegetal Scrollwork

 

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