Almunia de Dona Godina / La Almunia de Doña Godina / Ermita de Cabañas / Cabanas

Baptismal font described in Abbad (1941) as "tronco cónica" [bucket-shaped] and dated to the end of the 13th century. Illustrated in the Gran enciclopedia aragonesa (1980-1983). Noted in the Encilopedia del románico en Aragón (Zaragoza, 2010). An article by Fernando Arroyo, "El simbolismo bafomético templario y la iconología celtibérica", in the Anales del Instituto Campomanes de Estudios Medievales states that the heads on the base are actually embeded in the stone to which they are held by mortar; Arroyo further informs that these two heads are Celtic, probably removed form an ancient site nearby. The heads are described and illustrated [cf. infra]: 1)head with prominent chin; shows triangular teeth, thick lips, round eyes and a small straight nose; agressive demeanour; it is called "Cabeza de los dientes"; 2)human head with open mouth, a common stance in Celtic representations; it is called "Cabeza de la boca entreabierta". Arroyo refers to the investigations on this object carried out at the Universidad de Zaragoza (Spain) by the archaeologists M. Medrano and M. A. Diaz as source [Medrano, Manuel and Mª Antonia Diaz, Excavaciones Contrebia Belaisca´ 99], whose article 'Cabezas celtas de piedra' is available at www.arxeos.com]. Arroyo mentions that this chapel has been associated with the Knights Templar and their synchretic beliefs. These heads are therefore associated with their worship of Baphometic idols [source: http://usuarios.lycos.es/Larmenius/celtiberos.html]. Illustrated in Cabello Solanas (2002) who raises the alarm on the abandoned treasures of this church: the Romanesque font and the Gothic mural paintings. The font consists of a roughly hemispherical basin the sides of which are ornamented with a blind arcade of round arches all around; the lower part of the basin and underbowl are decorated with a ribbed pattern; the stem of the base is round, with what appear to be carved heads at opposite sides of it [cf. supra]. Its is raised on a substantial two-step plinth. [NB: Cuchi and Lapuente, 2017 [PilasbautismalesFINAL.pdf‎] [accessed 8 June 2017] note an 18th-century font at the parish church of Nuestra Señora de la Asunción, also in La Almunia de Doña Godina: "realizada en 1788 por el cantero Vicente Tabernas"].