Burguillos / Burguillos del Cerro
Image copyright © [in the public domain]
Image from Boletin... (mayo 1898), received from the RAH on 7 June 2001
Results: 2 records
view of font - plan
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © [in the public domain]
Image Source: Boletin de la Real Academia de la Historia (Madrid, Spain)
Copyright Instructions: Image from Boletin... (mayo 1898), received from the RAH on 7 June 2001
view of font - plan
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Palol, 1967
Image Source: drawing in Palol [after the Boletín de la Real Academia de la Historia] (1967)
Copyright Instructions: PERMISSION NOT AVAILABLE -- IMAGE NOT FOR PUBLIC USE
INFORMATION
Font ID: 04812BUR
Object Type: Baptismal Font3
Font Century and Period/Style: 7th century, Visigothic
Cognate Fonts: Similar font at Son Peretó
Church / Chapel Name: Basílica visigoda de la Santa Cruz de Burguillos
Font Location in Church: Originally in the atrium, to the right, by the south wall, east side
Church Patron Saint(s): The Holy Cross
Church Notes: The ruins of the Visigothic basilica were discovered in the 1890s at the top of a promontory
Church Address: 06370 Burguillos del Cerro, Badajoz, Spain
Site Location: Badajoz, Extremadura, Spain, Europe
Directions to Site: Located off the BA-032-EX-112 crossroads, S of Merida, W of Zafra
Font Notes:
Click to view
The catalogue of the Gabinete de Antigüedades of the Academia de la Historia for Extremadura (Celestino, 2000) lists a drawing of the Visigothic baptismal font at the Visigothic basilica of Burguillos [i.e., Burguillos del Cerro]; the drawing is dated 1898/03/26 and the name of the author/artist is given as Matías Ramón Martínez in the source [NB: this is the same drawing that appears on p. 59 of his article (cf. infra)] . Mélida (1925), citing an article published in the Boletín de la Real Academia de la Historia [t. XXXII, Cuaderno V, mayo 1898, p. 353-363) by Matías Ramón Martínez, an academic thereof, describes a baptismal font of quatrefoil shape [="de figura cuadrifolia"] made of rubble stone ["de mampostería"] and coated with concrete [="revestida de duro cemento"]. The size and volume of this baptismal font confirm the practise of baptism by immersion, adds Mélida (ibid., v. 2, p. 48-49). Martínez' article actually describes the font as a small cruciform pool or basin, made of rubblework and coated with a very hard concrete apparently made of lime, cement and granite dust [="pequeño estanque en forma de cruz, hecho de mapostería y recubierto por una mezcla durísima que se resiste á [sic] los golpes de martillo y parece de cal, cemento y moledura de granito." (Boletín..., p. 358). He identifies it as a baptistery of the 7th century and adds that the above ground edge [="pretil de escasa altura"] is lost. He was also unable to determine the drainage system because the actual drain hole of the font, situated a little off-centre, towards the NE arm of the Greek cross-shape, was obstructed with debris. The font is described and illustrated in Palol (1967), who reproduces the same BRAH drawing. [NB: the font has a general Greek-cross shape but the ends of the arms are rounded, hence Mélida's description as "quatrefoil"]. In Kahtchatrian (1982).
Credit and Acknowledgements: We are grateful to the Real Academia de Historia, Madrid, Spain, for the digital copy of the Burguillos font plan
COORDINATES
UTM: 29S 710462 4250723
Latitude & Longitude (Decimal): 38.379969, -6.590543
Latitude & Longitude (DMS): 38° 22′ 47.89″ N, 6° 35′ 25.96″ W
MEDIUM AND MEASUREMENTS
Material: stone, rubble-work (coated in concrete)
Font Shape: sunken font, cruciform
Basin Interior Shape: cruciform
Basin Exterior Shape: cruciform
Drainage System: off-centre drainage system
Drainage Notes: [cf. Font notes for details]
Basin Depth: 45 cm
Notes on Measurements: All measurements a/p Martínez (1898, p. 359): the N-S arm of the cross is 132 cm long, while the E-W is 128 cm. The arms of the cross are 48 cm on the inside at their widest point.
REFERENCES
- Caumont, Arcisse de, Essai sur l'architecture religieuse du Moyen Age, principalement en Normandie, Caen: Chalopin fils, 1825, p. 391
- Celestino, Juana, Comisión de Antigüedades de la Real Academia de la Historia: Extremadura, catálogo e índices, Madrid: Real Academia de la Historia, Gabinete de Antigüedades, 2000, p. 48
- Khatchatrian, Armen, Origine et typologie des baptistères paléochrétiens, Mulhouse: Centre de Culture Chrétienne, 1982, p. 71
- Martínez, Matías Ramón, "Basílica del siglo VII en Burguillos", t. XXXII, cuaderno V, mayo 1898, Boletín de la Real Academia de la Historia, 1898, pp. p. 353-363; p. 353-363
- Mélida, José Ramón, Catálogo monumental de España: provincia de Badajoz [3 vols.], Madrid: Ministerio de Instrucción Pública y Bellas Artes, 1925, vol. 2, p. 48-49
- Palol, Pedro de, Arqueología cristiana de la España romana: siglos IV a VI, Madrid, Valladolid: Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Instituto Enrique Flórez, 1967, p. 99, 162, 164 and fig. 58
- Palol, Pedro de, Arte paleocristiano en España, Barcelona: Ediciones Polígrafa, [1969?], p. 35