Spain Guide
Castilla y León and La Rioja
Basílica de San Isidoro and the Pantéon Real
Opening time: Basílica open all day; Pantéon July & Aug Mon– Sat 9am–8pm, Sun 9am–2pm; Sept– June Mon– at 10am–1.30pm & 4–6.30pm, Sun 10am–1.30pm
Price: Basílica free; Pantéon €4, free Thurs pm
The beautifulBasílica San Isidoro, a five-minute walk from the cathedral or Plaza de Santo Domingo, was founded by Fernando I both as a shrine for the bones of San Isidoro and as a mausoleum for himself and his successors. Backing into the very walls of the city, it dates mainly from the mid-twelfth century, making it one of Spain's earliest Romanesque buildings. Two adjacent doorways show fine sculpted reliefs, of the Descent from the Cross and the Sacrifice of Abraham, the latter surmounted by a pediment topped by the horse-riding San Isidoro himself. Inside, the saint's bones lie in a reliquary on the high altar.
The royal bones, however (of eleven kings and twelve queens), were laid to rest in tombs in the adjacent Pantéon Real, two crypt-like chambers constructed between 1054 and 1063 as a portico of the church. It's a deeply atmospheric space, with two squat columns in the middle of the Pantéon carved with thick foliage, rooted in Visigothic tradition. Moreover, towards the end of the twelfth century, these extraordinarily well-preserved vaults were then covered in some of the most significant frescoes in Spanish Romanesque art. These present a vivid splash of colour, not just biblical scenes and stories but also an agricultural calendar, for example (on the underside of one entire arch). The central dome is occupied by Christ Pantocrator surrounded by the four Evangelists depicted with animal heads – allegorical portraits that stem from the apocalyptic visions in the Bible's Book of Revelation. Your ticket also allows you to visit the cloister, as well as the small museum of glittering church treasures and the impressive library.