Santa María de Bendones: Pre-Romanesque Art in a Rural Setting

On the quiet outskirts of Oviedo/Uviéu, in a landscape of green hills, stands Santa María de Bendones, one of the least known and most heretical temples of Asturian art. An anticipator, a forerunner of trends and full of clues for interpreting the later works of the Asturian monarchy.

The church seems to be the result of a theological enigma rather than an architectural plan. It is thought to have been erected at the end of the 8th or beginning of the 9th century, when Asturias was still being formed and Alfonso II the Chaste was beginning to make Oviedo the political and spiritual heart of the kingdom. What we see today is the result of an almost total reconstruction undertaken when barely half of the original building was still standing. During the Civil War, Santa María de Bendones was razed to the ground. In 1954, the historian Joaquín Manzanares rediscovered the remains and, a few years later, between 1958 and 1971, the architect Luis Menéndez Pidal directed a restoration that was as firm as it was controversial. Some interventions, such as the complete reconstruction of the current bell tower, were carried out without any proven archaeological basis. The same happened with the chamber above the apse (common in other pre-Romanesque churches), whose existence at Bendones has not been confirmed, and which was "reconstructed" according to the architect's interpretation.

None of this, however, diminishes the doubts that have always surrounded the enigmatic origin of Bendones. It seems to be a church born before its time. Its single nave with a transversal plan, alien to what would later become the norm in Asturian Pre-Romanesque Art, is completely disconcerting. Some place it in a period prior to the reign of Alfonso II, when no canon had yet been sealed, when everything had yet to be invented.

The large space reserved for the clergy to the detriment of the faithful, and the absence of vaults in the lateral apses, would also be symptoms of a formula still in the process of being defined towards more developed basilica plans, with longitudinal and articulated naves. Another hypothesis, although less convincing, suggests that Bendones would not be earlier, but contemporary with the rest of the pre-Romanesque complex, and that its singularity responds to a possible monastic function. In that case, the atypical design would have more to do with the needs of the religious community than with an evolutionary phase of this architecture.

A National Monument since 1958, it shares with other Asturian churches of its time (some of which were declared World Heritage Sites by UNESCO in 1985 and 1998) not only the construction of its walls, but also a common aesthetic language: sobriety, sacredness and proportion. Its single nave ends in a tripartite chevet, with a single vaulted apse, which is articulated by means of small semicircular arches and preserves remains of mural paintings that evoke the frescoes of San Julián de los Prados.

In the southern chapel there is an altar table that some experts cite as one of the oldest in this art, only surpassed by the one that can be seen in the church of Santianes de Pravia. At the western end of the church there is a tripartite narthex giving access to the temple, perhaps with different liturgical functions: catechumenate, reception of pilgrims, or even baptism - as a baptismal font was found in the southern room.

On a decorative level, Bendones reiterates pre-Romanesque motifs such as the grooved collar, the capitals with vegetal forms and the remains of cancellous panels similar to those of Santa Cristina de Lena. In the Archaeological Museum of Asturias we can find several masterfully carved pieces that belonged to its original constitution, especially a pair of carved pilasters.

What is visible and what is invisible in this church, what is genuine or restored, what is and what is not, makes us realise that Santa María de Bendones, like all its sister churches, not only conveys an architectural aesthetic, but a deeper cultural experience that forces us to reimagine it.

The church is located in the picturesque natural setting of Bendones, just five kilometres from the centre of Oviedo/Uviéu, following the local AS-242 road. We can get to this locality by taking the U1 urban bus line from the Asturian capital. Information at www.tua.es(opens in a new tab)

For more information we can go to the Asturian Pre-Romanesque Reception and Interpretation Centre (opens in a new tab). It is also a good idea to go directly to this centre, on Monte Naranco in Oviedo/Uviedo, to visit its facilities to obtain a global vision of Asturian Pre-Romanesque Art and, once here, to visit the two most representative jewels of this period in situ: Santa María del Naranco and San Miguel de Lillo.