Gabia la Grande / Gabia Grande / Gabiar al-Cobra

INFORMATION

Font ID: 07599GAB
Object Type: Baptismal Font3?
Font Date: ca. 554?
Font Century and Period/Style: 6th century, Early Christian? / Byzantine?
Church / Chapel Name: Baptisterio Paleocristiano / Baptisterio Romano
Font Location in Church: Inside, at the W end
Church Address: 18110 Gabia la Grande, Granada, Spain
Site Location: Granada, Andalucía, Spain, Europe
Directions to Site: Located in the municipality of Las Gabias, 8 km from Granada capital, on the road to Alhama.
Ecclesiastic Region: Diócesis de Granada
Historical Region: Vega de Granada
Font Notes:
The underground complex here was discovered in 1920 by Francisco Serrano Rodríguez; excavated in 1922; re-excavated in 1979. By ca. 2000 the whole area was in danger of succumbing to local plans of land development, plans that were officially stopped in late 2002 when it was declared "bien de interés cultural" by the Junta de Andalucía, the regional government. Opinions differ on whether or not a baptistery was built here, or an existing site may have been used as a baptistery later. Palol (1967: 157-160) describes a square chamber of approximately 4 x 4 meters at the centre of which was found a small octagonal piscina; a lead pipe communicated this room with others in the complex; it is proposed that this may have been a baptistery. Palol (ibid.) cites two sources, one in favour of the identification as baptistery, the other against: 1)J. Cabré Aguiló's article "Monumento cristiano bizantino de Gabia la Grande (Granada) (MemJSEA, 55; 1922-1923: 54, 55) states that it is a baptistery; 2)M. Gómez Moreno's "Monumentos arquitectónicos de Granada. Gabia la Grande" , in Misceláneas (Madrid, 1949: 386ff) argues that there is nothing found in this complex to defend such attribution. Mentioned in Otero Pedrayo (2004: 334). In Utrero Agudo (2006: 444). Updated information and a few photographs are available at the Turismo Prerrománico site [http://www.turismo-prerromanico.com/monumento/20130209171107/] [accessed 20 June 2017]

COORDINATES

UTM: 30S 440566 4110212
Latitude & Longitude (Decimal): 37.139261, -3.6704417
Latitude & Longitude (DMS): 37º 8′ 28,56″ N, 3° 40′ 22.90″ W

MEDIUM AND MEASUREMENTS

Font Shape: sunken font, octagonal
Basin Interior Shape: octagonal

REFERENCES

  • Caumont, Arcisse de, Essai sur l'architecture religieuse du Moyen Age, principalement en Normandie, Caen: Chalopin fils, 1825, t. 1: 395-396
  • Khatchatrian, Armen, Origine et typologie des baptistères paléochrétiens, Mulhouse: Centre de Culture Chrétienne, 1982, p. 89 and fig. 287
  • 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. 157-160 and fn31, 32
  • Palol, Pedro de, Arte paleocristiano en España, Barcelona: Ediciones Polígrafa, [1969?], p. 35
  • Utrero Agudo, Maria de los Angeles, Iglesias tardoantiguas y altomedievales en la peninsula iberica: analisis arqueologico y sistemas de abovedamiento, Madrid: Depto. de Historia Antigua, Instituto de Historia, CSIC, 2006, p. 444