Route of the Mudéjar Craftsmanship in the Vía de la Plata
- Position
- Leon province
- Zamora province
Castilla y León stands out for being the Autonomous Community that concentrates the largest number of roof trusses, and the south of the province of León has an unequaled wealth in coffered ceilings. The unknown Mudéjar jewels distributed throughout the west of León, in turn structured by that Hispanic communication corridor that is the Vía de la Plata, is the leitmotif of this initiative that was born under the cover of a patronage campaign to restore the coffered ceiling of the church of Santiago in Valcabado del Páramo. A project that has shown the institutions that the small and unknown heritage can have that dynamic element that inland cultural tourism requires.
A total of thirteen Mudéjar pieces, each with its own register, each with its personal intrahistory, decorate this Mudéjar route that is structured around the Vía de la Plata, crossing the north of the province of Zamora and the west of the Province of León.
There is no doubt, therefore, that the Hispanic Middle Ages is clearly influenced by the material and immaterial culture of al-Andalus. Their tastes and customs decorate a landscape of coexistence that eventually continues to this day under the protection of a clearly Hispanic-Muslim marriage. And all this is channeled through this route and with it the exhibition "Carpentry to build on the Vía de la Plata", a contribution from the Junta de Castilla y León to the project. A didactic tour through the singularities of our coffered ceilings, culminating in a video that advocates for awareness and appreciation of the heritage of that Nasrid art that, contributing to the development of Mudéjar art, today shines in our Leonese skies.
The polychrome lacework acquires its maximum expression with promotional contributions such as that made by Juan González de Zamora, canon of the Cathedral of León, to the armor of Santa Colomba de la Vega (jewel in the crown of this route; with its domed appearance, symbolically creating a celestial vault); whose heraldic shield appears on one of the skirt of the piece. The lasso wheels that decorate the presbyteries of Azares del Páramo and Mayre de Castroponce are not far behind.
