Art, Travel and Culture: the church of San Francisco de Betanzos

Without wishing to detract from merit, beauty and mystery to the other artistic exponents of this beautiful town of Betanzos, such as the churches of Santiago and Santa María del Azogue, it would not be, in any way, exaggerated, unpremeditated or gratuitous the affirmation that , possibly, we have in this marvelous architectonic set that composes the convent of San Francisco, one of the most spectacular works of how many thickened the historical-artistic heritage of the region betanceira.

A work that, in addition to reproducing, supposedly, models of French origin, according to some sources, that put as an example the one of San Gall, contains, in addition, other singularities that deserve a timely attention. Obviously, it would be unforgivable to pass by, without mentioning the significant detail that, around the year 1289, approximate date in which it is supposed to be founded, Franciscan mendicant clerics settled on this site, where, apparently, it seems that there are well-founded suspicions that there was a Templar settlement, which was part of the encomienda that they permuted with King Alfonso X in 1251, in exchange for certain possessions in the lands of Zamora, among which we have to count Alba de Aliste, Alcañices and possibly also, Mombuey, where still survives the monumental tower of what was his church dedicated to the figure of Santa Maria.

In fact, and as anecdotal data, it can be added that part of the decorative motifs of its west portal -capitles and corbels- including a magnificent Agnus Dei, were part, some years ago, of a small museum of Templar pieces (1) exposed inside the ship, not far from where is located the magnificent tomb of Fernán Pérez de Andrade, O Boo and that, for reasons that are unknown, it seems that at some undetermined time, they were reused on their west front.

Moreover, it could be added that the presence of Franciscans in places that were or were supposed to be templars, makes good that old saying that the fires that lit the Dominicans were extinguished by the Franciscans, being true, too, that some templars became part of the Order of San Francisco, once theirs was dissolved. It can be assumed, therefore, that among these there were stonemasons and even master stonemasons who put their knowledge at the service of their new order, a detail that could explain certain familiarities among some buildings that rise in certain places in Galicia, such as, for example, cite an interesting example, the Franciscan group of the capital of Lugo, located in its old town, very close to the cathedral, extending what was once the church of San Pedro, it is possible that it had another dedication in the past, where it is possible to emphasize the similarity of its apse, also of octagonal form like this one of San Francisco, and the presence of the significant Agnus Dei.

The main entrance to the temple, located on the south side, although simple and clearly Gothic traces, shows us, as we already had occasion to hypothesize when we talked about the curiosities of the neighboring temple of Santa María del Azogue, to two curious characters who, like we have already seen, they could allude to the Annunciation, highlighting the detail of the humanization of the figure of the archangel Gabriel, role that was represented by the Jewish priests and even, as some authors suspect, also by John the Baptist himself. Numerous and interesting, of course, are also the series of corbels, which develop various themes, worthy of a separate study, as well as the presence of other relevant references, such as the Agnus Dei and a representative figure of the aforementioned nobleman and promoter, Pérez de Andrade, who is not only in his magnificent tomb, but also part of several hunting scenes, similar to those of the aforementioned tomb, which are located on the upper sides of the ship: the boar.

Inside the temple, and at a high point of its head -given a careful look at the arms of the vault, significantly carved with numerous figures- is located an interesting Pantocrator that, apparently, seems to follow similar patterns to those that They give in the cathedral of Lugo and in the Palencia churches of Santiago, in Carrión de los Condes, and of San Juan Bautista, in Moarves de Ojeda.

Interesting are, also, the numerous tombs that, in estimable number, are distributed in arcosolios so much by the lateral ones of the ship, like by the chapels of the Epistle and the Gospel, included the one of a mysterious and anonymous personage of oriental origin, that previously, it rested in the disappeared Chapel of the Fifth Anguish. Also relevant is the presence of the so-called solar cows - one of them lying down, hidden behind an interesting image of San Nicolás - that apart from defining one of the oldest Galician families -the Becerra-, they are also located in the tomb of a no less mysterious Noyes character, Ioan de Estivadas.

It is known that such a worthy and beautiful architectural ensemble, had a cloister, today disappeared, being of relevance the symbolic magic that characterizes the Franciscan constructions, where they acquire particular interest numbers that seem to be repeated in most of them: the 4, 5, 6 and 12.

As anecdotal data and colophon of the present entry-leaving for another moment, the interesting symbols contained in its west cover, including the Adoration of the Magicians of his tympanum, add the curious detail that the founder of the Franciscan Order, San Francisco of Assisi, signed in a very symbolic and particular way: with the letter Tau.

NOTICE: originally published in my blog ROMÁNICA, ENIGMAS DEL ROMÁNICO ESPAÑOL (http://juancar347-romanica.blogspot.com). Both the text and the photographs belong to my exclusive intellectual property.

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