Church with Visigothic origins destroyed in southern Spain

[jungleboy]

The church of Santa María de Brovales in Jerez de los Caballeros, in Badajoz province in Extremadura, was almost completely destroyed this week. The church is said to be of Visigothic origin and has links to the Knights Templar.

There have been various news reports about this in Spanish in the last few days, including this one which says the church was destroyed by a backhoe:
Derriban una iglesia de origen visigodo con una retroexcavadora en Jerez de los Caballeros

An investigation into what happened is underway and the article mentions that unauthorised works were taking place at the location.

'Perdido para siempre' ('Lost forever') is one of the subheadings of the article. So sad.

 

[jungleboy]

I found an article in English about this:
Guardia Civil investigate the demolition of a Visigoth church

 

[wjohnk]

In the UK there has been a triumph over developers

Rising from the rubble: London pub rebuilt brick by brick after illegal bulldozing

Carlton Tavern reopens six years after planning ruling that campaigners hope will prevent developers demolishing other sites

www.theguardian.com

It is a rare resulrt!

 

[Lance Chambers]

In the UK there has been a triumph over developers

Rising from the rubble: London pub rebuilt brick by brick after illegal bulldozing

Carlton Tavern reopens six years after planning ruling that campaigners hope will prevent developers demolishing other sites

www.theguardian.com

It is a rare resulrt!

What a wonderful ending to the vandalism. I hope this happens to anyone who has the gall to do this. There pubs are a vital part of British history.

 

[islandwalker]

I found an article in English about this:
Guardia Civil investigate the demolition of a Visigoth church

The before and after photos are disheartening.

 

[VNwalking]

I missed this when you posted it, @jungleboy .
This is so sad. Unbelievable that someone thought it was ok to take something so rare down with a backhoe.

The horse las left the barn but it's good to see the local outrage in the link you posted, @islandwalker .

The church was on private property, but, Gibello has said, that does not mean that the owner can do whatever he wants with it, as it is a collective asset which should be “respected and conserved” he said.

Experts from the Junta de Extremadura Property Protection Unit went to the property to assess the damage to local heritage.

Gibello explained that nothing so shocking has been seen in a long time, adding that the church stands on a “very important” site from the Roman period and although “to date no archaeological work had been carried out to determine the chronology”, it is believed that “the oldest part is from the Visigoth period”.

Shame!

Does anyone have any updates?

 

[Former member 91017]

Oh, I missed this when it was first posted too. How heart-breaking to see such destruction….

 

[VNwalking]

And it is not the only place that is in the process of disappearing.

@islandwalker 's link led me to a page describing heritage sites that are in danger:

Lista Roja del Patrimonio - Lista Roja del Patrimonio

Lista Roja del Patrimonio

www.hispanianostra.org

Sobering. Sad.

 

[peregrina2000]

And it is not the only place that is in the process of disappearing.

@islandwalker 's link led me to a page describing heritage sites that are in danger:

Lista Roja del Patrimonio - Lista Roja del Patrimonio

Lista Roja del Patrimonio

www.hispanianostra.org

Sobering. Sad.

Thanks for this link, it is really interesting. If you are at all interested in the preservation of cultural heritage, take a look at the map, and drill down to your favorite area of Spain to see what’s threatened. It inevitably takes you to the conundrum of — who decides what is a heritage site and what gets to be preserved? Surely not all of these places can be preserved.

Betanzos, for instance (lovely town on the Inglés) has three sites listed as being on the “red danger alert” list. One is an 11C medieval convent (but take a look at the pictures and see if you think restoration or preservation is a realistic solution, not that I’m an expert or anything), one is a 19C theme park, and one is something described only as an “industrial complex.”

I was in Soto del Real recently visiting friends. They had just bought an apartment (still unbuilt, which they plan to rent out) that was to be constructed in the central part of town. The works have been paralyzed because someone discovered that one of the walls of the 19C building being destroyed contained stones from the 12th century that may have come from a now destroyed monastery nearby.

The wife of this couple had her first assignment as a federal prosecutor in Mérida, about 20 years ago. Talk about fascinating preservation stories! There is no square inch in Mérida that is not above some ancient ruins. She told me it was like a cat and mouse game, people owning property doing construction work at night to escape detection, hoping that they could get their work done, with the anticipated financial penalties being part of the cost of doing business.

For those of us who have a particular historical timeframe of favorite architecture (pre-romanesque and Romanesque, anyone?) this is really fascinating.

 

[C clearly]

And it is not the only place that is in the process of disappearing.

@islandwalker 's link led me to a page describing heritage sites that are in danger:

Lista Roja del Patrimonio - Lista Roja del Patrimonio

Lista Roja del Patrimonio

www.hispanianostra.org

Sobering. Sad.

That website has a lot of interesting information!