Asturian Pre-Romanesque Art: Santa María de Bendones

Bendones is a modest town, located in the urban area of ​​Oviedo at a similar distance as it may be, without going any further, two other wonderful jewels of Asturian Art -Santa María del Naranco and San Miguel de Lillo- although in another direction.

An address, oblivious to the sometimes desperate instructions of the GPS on duty, in which it is only necessary not to get too confused by following the indicative signs that indicate the direction of the pre-Romanesque monuments.

I say this, in attention to any person who, like me, does not stand out especially when manipulating those devilish modern interactive maps and wants, therefore, to avoid the unpleasant experience of crossing the city from one part to another, stumbling like a top.

Nor should you be scared, a priori, if, taking the indicated direction, you stumble upon a small village called Covadonga: that he is calm, because he has not come, much less, to the vicinity of the main Marian Sanctuary of Asturias, nor is he found, Neither, in the vicinity of Arriondas and Cangas de Onís, nor will you see on your way a river of the characteristics of the Sella, which indicate the proximity of a festival as renowned as that of the canoes.

Of course, you will see, on the right hand side, shortly after leaving the village, a sign indicating the monument that, pointing towards a local truck immersed in twilight by the grove that flanks it, on either side, is lost in the unknown, bucking as the body of that famous mythological, so renowned in the most flowery of local traditions.

You will be in a hurry, possibly, thinking about the apparent narrowness of those typical Asturian regional roads, wishing not to cross any vehicle, at least until you reach the theoretical security of the town. Driver or not of the Plateau, in the town's casinos - crowded on one side and scattered on the other - you will see some interesting details, such as that ancient folk remedy to attract good luck, which is none other than that derived from hanging horseshoes on the door; Or you will see, dazzled by its colors, small floral groves decorating corners and railings of centuries-old granaries, without other apparent symbols, so characteristic of these constructions in other places and councils.

On the other hand, and resting on a fluffy mattress of grass, the vision of the church of Santa María will seem to him like that of a primitive ark, to which an occasional early medieval Noah wanted to endow with a mast that, either out of necessity or for comfort , misrepresents a set born with the measure and proportion foreseen in the geometric mind of a master fisherman of men.

Above all, he will notice those wonderful lattices, handcrafted in one piece, whose motifs, cruciferous and mandala, will exert subliminal signs of magnetic attraction on his psyche.

Some traveler, a keen observer of the peninsular Romanesque, will think they have seen some of these mandalas in independent constructions, distant in time and foreign to the province, and will think that this species of four-leaf nuclear flower has seen it in Castilian churches, such as the Santa Coloma de Albendiego; precisely the place, located on the edge of the paradigmatic Sierra de Pela, where some historians place the probable location of the mysterious Alhándega, the site, brittle and vital for ambushes, which meant the total debacle for the Moorish army that was retiring badly wounded after the battle of Simancas.

But few will know that, deep down, what they have before their eyes, is a faithful reflection of the world of Maya, the world of illusion that, fortunately, makes it maintain a similar appearance to what it had before the bonfires of the mining revolution of 1934 will spoil it.

Deep down, it can be said that it is quite a luck, compared to the irreparable loss of other temples with similar characteristics, such as the one in nearby Santolaya.

NOTICE: Revised and expanded version of the one originally published on my ROMÁNICA blog, ENIGMAS DEL ROMÁNICO ESPAÑOL. Both the text and the accompanying photographs are my exclusive intellectual property. The original entry, where you can check the authorship of juancar347, can be found at the following address: http://juancar347-romanica.blogspot.com/2011/09/el-tranquilo-recogimiento-de-bendones.html