Calvera No. 2 / 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 tub-like vessel is round, with a 'belly' larger than the top opening, an uncharacteristic shape for a font; it is locally described as a "pica d'oli" [=oil font], said to have been used in the Middle Ages to collect tithe oil for lighting and heating in these Pyrenean villages, though usually such vessels are roughly rectangular in shape. The round basin is totally plain, and raised on a flat round stone and a quadrangular base; all three volumes are plain. There is no cover present, nor is there any evidence of there having been any anchoring points for a cover in the past. [cf. Index entries for Calvera Nos. 1 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].