The only resident of a town in Soria, witness to the live death of the 12th century Romanesque church

In 2020, a group of professors and historians visited the Romanesque church of San Bartolomé, the heart of the uninhabited town of La Barbolla, which is half an hour by car from Soria.

The deterioration they observed in the walls and roof and the consequent risk of collapse gave rise to Romanesque without a roof, a group that since then has been warning of the more than certain loss of an interesting testimony of the rural Romanesque of Soria from the 12th century.

The phases of the direct death of the temple – destruction of its baroque altarpieces, looting of liturgical belongings and collapse of the roof – have happened just as the association had predicted.

The last chapter occurred a few days ago, when several workers came by order of the owner, the diocese of Osma-Soria, to move the Romanesque font and the bells.

More than a gesture, a declaration of intent to abandon to its fate a heritage asset from the Middle Ages that, like hundreds of others in the country, lacks administrative protection and is condemned to disappear.

Although residents of the area and researchers have drawn attention to the problems of San Bartolomé in the last two decades, the temple's ordeal was aggravated by the great storm Filomena, in January 2021. The roof of the nave withstood the onslaught, but The leaks hit one of the three altarpieces on the floor.

Meanwhile, the removal of images by the Church has not stopped, nor has the constant visitation of all types of animals (owls, genets or ferrets), vandalism and thefts.

The last one, a year ago, destroyed the remaining objects, of more sentimental than artistic value: the banner fabrics and a votive offering, the portrait of a sick child offered by a parishioner in exchange for his cure.

As all that remained was to set a date for the collapse of the roof, it occurred in the early morning of November 9, as a result of heavy rains.

More information

The invisible language of Romanesque walls that struggles to survive modern restorations

It was the farmer Lorenzo Chico, the only inhabitant of a town sentenced to depopulation for decades, who raised the alarm when he arrived in the morning and contemplated what he had feared for years.

The last and unfortunate milestone – also predicted by the Roofless Romanesque association – occurred on January 12, when the Church ordered the transfer of the bells and the font due to the risk of theft.

“When I arrived at the town square, I told the diocesan heritage delegate that I didn't think it was right that they had not asked the City Council for permission or informed the neighbors, but Don José Sala replied that that was his and that they did not need it. "no type of authorization," says Luis Carlos Pastor, the spokesperson for the Soria collective, visibly upset.

The shock was even greater when he saw the violence with which the workers carried out the withdrawal.

“They violated the front door much more, they had not even taken the key to the padlock;

They demolished part of a wall to extract the Romanesque font and, as it was a cold, foggy morning, they made a bonfire to warm themselves with remains of wood from the church, perhaps from the fallen beams or the benches,” Pastor describes.

Since the collapse a few months ago and the recent self-spoliation and transfer of some pieces by the diocese, I had not returned to the Romanesque church of San Bartolomé de La Barbolla (Soria).

In the years we are in and knowing what we know, is there a right to drop this?

pic.twitter.com/SIBCwLL4tj

— David Ortega (@Daviddcoba) January 14, 2024

“One more building that disappears”

“What do I think of what is happening with La Barbolla?

"This is one more of the buildings that disappear in our country, although we found out about this one because there are people who are complaining and denouncing it," laments Josemi Lorenzo, a historian who has studied the temple of San Bartolomé in depth.

“It is a Romanesque church of enormous interest: if the plastering (the most superficial layer of the walls) were chipped away, we would surely see an interior decoration with fake [painted] ashlars, just as the ancestors contemplated it in the 15th century,” he emphasizes. the expert, who adds that “currently, there are not many examples of this type left.”

The Soriana church seen from the outside, in May 2023, before the collapse of the roof. Photo provided (José María Sadia)

The main problem of San Bartolomé is that it lacks administrative protection and, in fact, the Junta de Castilla y León uses this same argument to not act.

“The BIC (Asset of Cultural Interest) declaration means that a heritage asset is considered protected and that the Administration acts in a subsidiary manner in its maintenance, if the owner does not do so,” explains architect Francisco Yusta, responsible for the old restoration program. Romanesque Soria.

As in the case of La Barbolla there is no such protection, the property remains exclusively in the hands of what its owner decides to do.

“The dioceses have a scale of values, they prioritize the repair of buildings that still have a religious use;

a place where no one lives anymore, like San Bartolomé, is not the first on the list,” he argues.

However, it is striking that this gap exists in the case of a Romanesque vestige, an artistic style that enjoys extraordinary good press in our country.

“In Spain there is no generic declaration for Romanesque assets, as there is, for example, for castles (most of them state property) or buildings with shields, whose emblem is protected,” clarifies Yusta.

“There are hundreds of properties that lack BIC protection, surely thousands if we include other types of historical properties,” Lorenzo confirms.

In any case, both experts agree that “not everything can be BIC” because “there are not enough resources” to reach them and the consequence is that it is necessary to “select” what to save and what not.

The roof of the church of La Barbolla (Soria). Photo provided (José Ramón Esteban- Recorriendo Soria)

“They have never wanted to do anything”

Without even ruling out submitting the request for San Bartolomé to be declared BIC, despite the fact that it is partially in ruins, the homeless Romanesque collective presents the arguments why the La Barbolla temple should be intervened: “Only because it is a Romanesque church should already be protected;

In this case, furthermore, it is located in a depopulated area and usually only investments are made in places in the diocese that are in big cities: we like luxury, but we also have to value poverty," defends Pastor, who points to the Church as responsible: “We have offered them help since 2020, but they have refused to do anything from the first moment.”

Romanesque baptismal font, located in a truck for transport. Photo provided (Luis C. Pastor)

Recognizing the limitation of resources to guarantee the survival of Spain's extensive heritage, Yusta adds: “I don't think it's right that San Bartolomé should be lost, because a building is the greatest document of the past that exists and everyone has a story to tell us.”

Lorenzo opts for imaginative solutions: “You have to decide what you want to preserve;

With the rest of the churches we will have to eat our pride and put them to other uses.”

Because the remaining alternative is the one that Lorenzo Chico, the last inhabitant of La Barbolla, does not want to see with his eyes.

“See how it is destroyed, observe how nature eats it and enjoy the ruin,” says Lorenzo, wrapping the sentence in bitter irony.

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