Tower of San Cristóbal

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Tower of San Cristobal, Toledo Torre de San Cristobal.JPG
Tower of San Cristobal, Toledo

The Tower of San Cristóbal is a Mudéjar tower belonging to the Church of San Cristóbal in Toledo (Spain). [1]

Mudéjar Muslim people living in Christian territories in the Iberian Peninsula

Mudéjar refers to an architecture and decoration style in (post-Moorish) Christian Iberia that was strongly influenced by Moorish taste and workmanship, reaching its greatest expression in medieval Aragon, Andalusia and the city of Toledo. Mudéjar also refers to the large group of Muslims in Spain who remained in Christian Iberia despite being their territories being reconquered. The distinctive Mudéjar style is still evident in regional architecture, as well as in music, art, and crafts, especially Hispano-Moresque ware, lustreware pottery that was widely exported across Europe. The Mudéjar style was first characterized as a specific aesthetic trend by Spanish art historian Pedro de Madrazo in 1888. This important distinction clarified that the specific qualities were not just signature of specific artisans or craftsmen but it was the collective aesthetic style of Mudéjar Muslims in the Iberian peninsula.

San Sebastián, Toledo Church in Toledo, Spain

San Sebastian is one of the oldest churches of Toledo, Spain. It once was close to the former city gate called "Bab-al-Dabbagin" also known by its Spanish name as "Puerta de los Curtidores". Archeological research shows that it was originally built as a mosque in the 10th century, and enlarged in the 11th century. The mosque was called Al-Dabbagin., sometimes transliterated as Adabaquín. Some time after 1085 it became the church of one of the six Toledan parishes of the Mozarabic rite. The architectural reconstruction dates from the late 12th or 13th century.

Toledo, Spain City in Castile–La Mancha, Spain

Toledo is a city and municipality located in central Spain; it is the capital of the province of Toledo and the autonomous community of Castile–La Mancha. Toledo was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1986 for its extensive monumental and cultural heritage.

Contents

History

The missing church seemed to be associated with a mosque founded by Fathibn Ibrahim al'Umawi', known as al-Qasari (934 - 1013). Evidence indicates the existence of a church at San Cristóbal as of1187. In the 15th century, transformations were made to adapt it to the Greco-Roman style.

In 1842 the parochiality was knocked down, while the building was broken up and sold to individuals who later destroyed the pieces.

In 1845 the demolition of the church proceeded, in view of its ruinous state. The only remnant was the tower built on the foundations of an earlier minaret.

The tower was rebuilt between the second half of the 12th century and the first half of the 13th century, when it was linked to the first phase of Toledan Mudéjar.

The death of tower

The tower is of square plan with a central machon, around which revolved the stairs. It is made of taped masonry which, at the base, before its restoration, had the appearance of ashlar. To these first strings corresponded chains of stone, while in the rest of the tower these are of brick. One wall reused a Visigothic piece.

Ashlar Finely dressed stone and associated masonry

Ashlar is finely dressed stone, either an individual stone that has been worked until squared or the structure built of it. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, generally cuboid, mentioned by Vitruvius as opus isodomum, or less frequently trapezoidal. Precisely cut "on all faces adjacent to those of other stones", ashlar is capable of very thin joints between blocks, and the visible face of the stone may be quarry-faced or feature a variety of treatments: tooled, smoothly polished or rendered with another material for decorative effect.

The organization of the spans is in a pointed horseshoe arch, framed in a slight protrusion by a side arranged in the manner of an alphabet. Such an organization has evident Almohad links, which is further supported by its presence in the church of San Cipriano in Toledo. Despite this, it is an unusual model in the Toledan Mudéjar.

Almohad Caliphate langue Arabic dialictic

The Almohad Caliphate was a Moroccan Berber Muslim movement and empire founded in the 12th century.

San Cipriano, Toledo Toledo

The Church of San Cipriano is a church located in Toledo, Castilla-La Mancha, Spain. It is cited in 1125 as a Latin parish, although it is thought that it could have originally been mosque, based upon its layout and a preceding courtyard, which was later used as a cemetery.

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References

  1. "The Mudejar Towers of Teruel / Torres Mudéjares de Teruel - The best places in Spain". www.bestplacesinspain.com. Retrieved 2017-09-19.

Coordinates: 39°51′20″N4°01′39″W / 39.8555°N 4.0274°W / 39.8555; -4.0274

Geographic coordinate system Coordinate system

A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are often chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position and two or three of the numbers represent a horizontal position; alternatively, a geographic position may be expressed in a combined three-dimensional Cartesian vector. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation. To specify a location on a plane requires a map projection.