Zabalza de Urraul / Zabaltza / Zabalza de Urraúl

Described in the Catálogo Monumental de Navarra (1990?-). Described and illustrated in Domeño (1992): baptismal font of the Romanesque period, towards the early 12th or early 13th-century; the basin is hemispherical with very high-relief ornamentation consisting of: a roll moulding at the upper basin side with a few ball motifs irregular distributed above it; four crudely rendered human figures are carved out of the vertical ribs [NB: these figures do not have the extended arms characteristic of several medieval Navarrese fonts pointed out by Domeño (ibid.): Azparren, Equiza, Uli Alto, Aristu, Elcoaz, Ongoz, Jacoiste, Zabalza, Adoain, Irurozqui, Ayechu, Meoz and Igal; instead, the figures resemble somewhat those of the font at Zalba, also in Navarra]; there is another row of ball motif around the underbowl. The base is conical with a significant roll moulding around the upper area; it is now mounted on a plain cylindrical lower base of modern times. The ca. 1992 illustration in Domeño (ibid.) shows a plain flat lid made of wood and a metal locking mechanism popular in these fonts, a long bolt that locks into an iron staple affixed to the rim of the basin. The Enciclopedia del románico en Navarra (2008) notes a number of Romanesque basins of similar shape in Adoain, Aristu, Elcoaz, Jacoisti, Ayechu, Ongoz. Irurozqui, Arangozqui and Zabalza, in the same valley, and Azparren, Equiza, Uli Alto, Meoz and Igal in nearby areas.