La Seu D'Urgell, Cathedral of Santa Maria. Facade, entries, interior doors

History of La Seu D'Urgell.  In the middle ages, in 988, the Counts of Urgell gave control of the area we know as the tiny Pyrenees country of Andorra to the Bishops of the See of Urgell;  power from the secular to the religious.  The lovely cathedral in Urgell had been consecrated far earlier, according to the earliest known document, in 839.  See http://www.world66.com/europe/andorra/history. 

This town was already a major seat of influence.  The Andorrans, who, it is said, received their rights through a grateful Charlemagne whom they helped, wanted ongoing control of themselves, and did not take to intervention easily. The point is that this area is old, and so well preserved by being off the usual tourist routes, as to make a splendid trip. Today, locations of fine old churches are crowded in with surrounding streets, as perhaps they were then, as well. 

 Santa Maria, Romanesque. Facade, La Seu d'Urgell, Spain

Romanesque as a style is far more approachable than Gothic, with its spear-like spires and overkill on gew-gaws.  In some areas, the bulky Romanesque doubled as a place of refuge against invaders.  In this area, against the Moors.

Here, at the main door, is the simplicity of a few columns, an old door with smaller entry-doors, and graceful rounded arches drawing the eye around and into the door, not up and out somewhere to distract.  The courses break up the flat facade, scaffolding holes still there from the old construction. 

Main door, Santa Maria, Seu d'Urguell, Spain.  Romanesque.

From the inside, the door at Santa Maria is still reinforced with metal plates against invaders.  Is it close to original?  Solid beams bar it from the inside.

Main door, fortified, at Santa Maria, from the inside, See of Urgell, Spain

Why should a side door be more ornate in its surround, and the columns more numerous, with faces going around the arches?

Side door, Santa Maria, Seu d'Urgell.  Smaller door, but more and fussier columns

This entry may well be a later addition, when trinkety Gothic came in, and the old Romanesque was seen as outdated. Could that be? The faces around the arches recall a similar arrangement at the Cathedral at Sibenik, Croatia.  There, we were told that it represented a later time in Gothic where the common person began to take precedence over the old stylized arrangement of saints.  See http://croatiaroadways.blogspot.com/2006/06/sibenik-cathedral-faces-market-day-and.html

Faces, ordinary people, archway at Santa Maria, Seu d'Urgell, Spain, cathedral

Love old doors.  Here, the worn spot below the handle represents what kind of wear?  Multiple reinforcements. 

Door from inside, Seu d'Urgell, Santa Maria Cathedral, reinforcements.

Love secret doors to where? This one is barred from the inside, and up a little set of stone stairs,  so not even nice tourists can peek.

Interior door to where? Barred. Seu d'Urgell, Santa Maria, Spain.

Often a decorative entry barrier would be constructed with side entries and a center entry, for more flexibility in exit or entrance.  Here, the carvings are simple, geometric.

Seu d'Urgell, Spain.  Interior door system leading to the main fortified door.

This takes a professional, a real historical architect, to decipher.  Are our tentative conclusions, from guides here and there and not clear English and our Spanish very sad, close or not?

Monastery, down street from Cathedral of Santa Maria, Spain

More interior doors.  See the strong hinges.  Where does this one go?  There were, we understand escape routes out of the church.  This is not in a location where a crypt would normally be accessed, or a mere sacristy. 

Interior door, ornate hinges, Santa Maria Cathedral, Seu d'Urgell, Spain

Now, here is what we missed. 

There is a 9th Century Beatus, the Urgell Beatus, located at the Cathedral archive, the Cathedral of Santa Maria d'Urgell, but it does not circulate and was not referenced in our guidebooks.  See http://microfilms-and-facsimiles.medieval.library.nd.edu/catalog/facsimile-430/  These early texts are important in seeing how they, in meaning and illustration, have changed.  There is another uncirculated early Codex in Austria, at Kremsmunster Abbey. 

Cannot the entire Beatus -- as well as thte Austrian Codex -- please be scanned online? Do an Images search for Beatus Urgell and find some there, such bright colors, designs all over the page, and many in Wikimedia Commons.  We would like the entire thing.

More Archives:   look up Google street view and find us waving at the Google car in Seu d"Urgell, and its top camera, on our way back to the parking lot.  We could not locate us, but we did show enthusiasm.

The Parador:  Do treat yourself to a fine lunch, tablecloths, waiters waiting, at the fine Parador here.  Paradors are fine state-run hotels often in very old settings, and quite affordable if not used all the time. This Parador utilizes the cloisters of the old Cathedral, see http://www.paradoresofspain.com/detail.php?item=35