Hermitage St Christine of Lena

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by Raiz
published on 17 December 2018

St Christine of Lena (Spanish: Santa Cristina de Lena) is a Roman Catholic Asturian pre-Romanesque hermitage from 9th century CE located in Lena , about 25 km south of Oviedo, Spain. It was declared UNESCO World Heritage site in 1985. The church has a different ground plan to Pre-Romanesque’s traditional basilica. It is a single rectangular space with a barrel vault, with four adjoining structures located in the centre of each facade. One of the most unusual elements of Santa Cristina de Lena is the existence of the presbytery elevated above floor level in the last section of the central nave, separated from the area intended for the congregation by three arches on marble columns. This separation is not repeated in any other with a similar structure. Both the lattices over the arches and the wall enclosing the central arch were re-used from Visigothic origins in the 7th century CE.