The Church

When leaving Portugal in the North, we arrived at the Spanish province of Zamora. Luckily, we saw the signs for San Pedro de la Nave, a Visigothic church from the 7th century!
 
 

The weather was still more than unpredictable, but the sun in combination with dark clouds, rainbows and rain showers made a great scenery.
 
 
 
When we reached San Pedro de la Nave, the church was closed, but a sign said to call a number and somebody will come. We called and 10 minutes later a lovely lady appeared, opening the church for us and explaining everything (of course in Spanish).
 
 
Already on the outside, we discovered a frieze
 

Originally, the church was sited on the banks of the river Esla, but when the Ricobayo dam was built in 1930, it was moved to avoid submersion in the waters of the dam.

Getting all the details explained
The columns are from Portuguese and Italian marble with wonderful pedestals
Horseshoe arch, typical for Visigothic architecture, separates the apse
Daniel in the Lion’s Den

The decoration of the church is among the most outstanding of pre-Romanesque architecture. It shows biblical scenes like the sacrifice of Isaac by Abraham or Daniel in the Lion’s Den.

Sorry I forgot this one, maybe Noah?
 
 

From here, we drove over minor roads to the Ricobayo dam to spend the night on its shore.

 
Some potholes on the way
 
Parking for the night
Flower of the day

Where will we go next? As we are in the province of Zamora, the capital with the same name sounds like a good option – more next!

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