Villalval
Image copyright © Pedro Lozano Huerta, 2025
Image and permission received from the author via Mikel Unanue
Results: 12 records
view of font
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Pedro Lozano Huerta, 2025
Image Source: digital photograph 2025 by Pedro Lozano Huerta
Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received from the author via Mikel Unanue
view of basin - rim - detail
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Pedro Lozano Huerta, 2025
Image Source: digital photograph 2025 by Pedro Lozano Huerta
Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received from the author via Mikel Unanue
design element - motifs - floral - rosette?
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Pedro Lozano Huerta, 2025
Image Source: digital photograph 2025 by Pedro Lozano Huerta
Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received from the author via Mikel Unanue
inscription - detail
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Pedro Lozano Huerta, 2025
Image Source: digital photograph 2025 by Pedro Lozano Huerta
Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received from the author via Mikel Unanue
inscription - detail
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Pedro Lozano Huerta, 2025
Image Source: digital photograph 2025 by Pedro Lozano Huerta
Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received from the author via Mikel Unanue
view of basin - interior
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Pedro Lozano Huerta, 2025
Image Source: digital photograph 2025 by Pedro Lozano Huerta
Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received from the author via Mikel Unanue
view of church interior - looking west
Scene Description: showing the disastrous state of the disused church now; the basin of the font can be seen in the bottom-right corner of the image
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Pedro Lozano Huerta, 2025
Image Source: digital photograph 2025 by Pedro Lozano Huerta
Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received from the author via Mikel Unanue
information
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Pedro Lozano Huerta, 2025
Image Source: digital photograph 2025 by Pedro Lozano Huerta
Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received from the author via Mikel Unanue
view of basin - rim - detail
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Pedro Lozano Huerta, 2025
Image Source: digital photograph 2025 by Pedro Lozano Huerta
Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received from the author via Mikel Unanue
inscription - detail
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Pedro Lozano Huerta, 2025
Image Source: digital photograph 2025 by Pedro Lozano Huerta
Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received from the author via Mikel Unanue
symbol - cross - Greek - Maltese - in a cricle - concave arms
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Pedro Lozano Huerta, 2025
Image Source: digital photograph 2025 by Pedro Lozano Huerta
Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received from the author via Mikel Unanue
inscription - detail
![and other decorative motifs [cf. FontNotes]](/static-50478a99ec6f36a15d6234548c59f63da52304e5/compressed/1260209040_compressed.png)
Scene Description: and other decorative motifs [cf. FontNotes]
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Pedro Lozano Huerta, 2025
Image Source: digital photograph 2025 by Pedro Lozano Huerta
Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received from the author via Mikel Unanue
INFORMATION
Font ID: 25921VIL
Object Type: Baptismal Font1
Font Date: [1218 / 1180]?
Font Century and Period/Style: 13th century (?) / 16th century (?), Romanesque? / Late Gothic?
Church / Chapel Name: Iglesia Parroquial de San Juan Evangelista [in ruins]
Font Location in Church: Inside the ruined church
Church Patron Saint(s): St. John the Evangelist
Church Notes: probably Romanesque church re-built 16thC -- in ruins now: "La Iglesia de Villalval se encuentra en un avanzado estado de deterioro. La torre ha sufrido un importante derrumbe y algunas de las bóvedas se encuentran a punto de colapsar. Esta iglesia lleva más de 40 años cerrada al culto y la degradación del edificio se encuentra en un punto cercano al no retorno. La vegetación ha crecido tanto en cubiertas, paramentos e interiores, y los elementos de mobiliario interior tales como retablos y muebles de sacristía están desvencijados." [source https://listaroja.hispanianostra.org/ficha/iglesia-de-san-juan-evangelista/ [accessed 14 November 2025]]
Church Address: Calle Alta, 09192 Villalval, Burgos, Spain
Site Location: Burgos, Castilla y León, Spain, Europe
Directions to Site: Located off the AP-1 / N-1, in the municipality and 1-2 km of Cardeñuela Riopico, near the Sierra de Atapuerca,10-11 km E of Burgos city centre
Ecclesiastic Region: Diócesis de Burgos
Historical Region: Comarca de Alfoz de Burgos
Additional Comments: disused font in the church in ruins (ca. 2205)
Font Notes:
Click to view
The entry for this church in Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/groups/romanicodelnorte/posts/10162631595289801/] [accessed 14 November 2025] by Pedro Lozano Huerta describes and illustrates the baptismal font in it expressing his doubts about the inscription [MCCXVIII] that is carved on it: "Iglesia de San Juan Evangelista- Villalval- Burgos- Pila Bautismal. La tengo hace mucho tiempo, pero dudaba mucho de publicarla, pues aunque la datan como románica y está hecha a hacha, es difícil de catalogar. Luego también como empezaba con HE, me tenía despistado y gracias a la ayuda de mi amigo Manuel Gila y a sus conocimientos, aclarándome que en alguna ocasión, era, se ponía con H, he visto un poco más de luz. En la embocadura con letra que parece gótica, se puede leer en una inscripción en números romanos MCCXVIII(1218), que correspondería al año de 1180, románica del siglo XII. Con dudas de su datación y con unas fotos no muy buenas, pues no acabo de lograr que con el contraste salgan claras, me atrevo a publicarla, sin la seguridad fiable de que sea románica."
PLH indicates [cf. supra] that the date is an "Era" date [i.e., 38 years later than the AD date (1180)]. One could take the questioning of the date further, especially since the date inscription appears to made in Gothic lettering ["letra que parece gótica"] and interpreted to refer to the date of the original Romanesque church here rather than of the font itself, which could very well have been introduced when the church was totally re-built in the 16th century [NB: the use of dates on fonts referring to other than the actual manufacture of the object is well documented in the literature].
PLH indicates [cf. supra] that the date is an "Era" date [i.e., 38 years later than the AD date (1180)]. One could take the questioning of the date further, especially since the date inscription appears to made in Gothic lettering ["letra que parece gótica"] and interpreted to refer to the date of the original Romanesque church here rather than of the font itself, which could very well have been introduced when the church was totally re-built in the 16th century [NB: the use of dates on fonts referring to other than the actual manufacture of the object is well documented in the literature].
Credit and Acknowledgements: We are grateful to Pedro Lozano Huerta for his photographs of this church and font, and to him and Mikel Unanue for their help documenting it
COORDINATES
UTM: 30T 454435 4690847
Latitude & Longitude (Decimal): 42.368564, -3.553391
Latitude & Longitude (DMS): 42° 22′ 6.83″ N, 3° 33′ 12.21″ W
MEDIUM AND MEASUREMENTS
Material: stone
Font Shape: hemispheric, mounted
Basin Interior Shape: round
Basin Exterior Shape: round
Drainage System: centre hole in basin
Drainage Notes: drain hole now blocked -- no lining
INSCRIPTION
Inscription Language: Numbers (Roman)
Inscription Location: on the basin rim [cf. FontNotes]
Inscription Text: "[?] MCCXVIII"
Inscription Notes: [cf. FontNotes]
Inscription Source: [cf. FontNotes]