Calvera No. 1 / Calbera

Two objects of interest in this church are noted and illustrated in García Omedes' GUÍA DIGITAL DEL ARTE ROMÁNICO [www.castillodeloarre.org/HU-Ribagorza/990373-CalveraSA.htm] [accessed 10 October 2015]; one is rectangular, the other tub-like, with the bottom wider than the top; both disused. The rectangular vessel corresponds to a type of 'font' known in this area as "piques d'oli" [=oil fonts], said to have been used in the Middle Ages to collect tithe oil for lighting and heating in these Pyrenean villages [cf. the Enciclopedia entry below, where it is identified as the font, whereas the round one is labelled as the tithe oild vessel]. Some of these are very ornate, with the same type of motifs and symbols found on baptismal fonts of the area. There are those who argue that these rectangular vessels were the original baptismal fonts in pre-Romanesque times. The rectangular vessel in San Andrés de Calvera is a crude object devoid of decoration of any kind, the sides rough with the exception of a plain band around the upper rim that shows an attempt at an even finish; the shape inside is the same as outside but has an even finish all around, and a central drain [which would make no sense in an oil vessel]. This basin is raised on a rectangular pedestal base made of multiple stones. [cf. Index entries for Calvera Nos. 2 and 3 for two other vessels listed for this church]. The two objects are described in a caption as "Pila bautismal y depósito de diezmos" in an illustration in the Enciclopedia del románico [https://www.romanicodigital.com/sites/default/files/pdfs/files/HUESCA_Calvera.pdf] [accessed 29 September 2025]: "A los pies del templo dos pilas románicas –quizás del siglo xi– una circular para recoger los diezmos (aceite), y la otra en forma cuadrada para cristianar, recordándonos a la de Obarra. De factura sencilla, la bautismal tiene la parte exterior de la embocadura rebajada y la de diezmos tiene forma de cuenco." [NB: there are two medieval chapels-of-ease to this church: Ermita de San Valero (11thC; now in ruins), and Ermita de Santa María (12thC); we have no information on the baptismal fonts of those rural chapels].