Agüero - Iglesia de Santiago

The Iglesia de Santiago stands surrounded by macchia at the end of a dust road about a kilometer southeast of Agüero. This isolated place is probably why it is named as well "Ermita de Santiago".
It is a very strange structure and I did not have much information about. At one time within the 12th century somebody had started to build a pretty large basilica (- in the middle of nowhere). Obviously money was not an issue, as gifted sculptors and experienced builders left their marks here. Then - some decades later, the building process stopped, the church was never completed.

No wonder, that the artist/workshop known as "Master of San Juan de la Peña" is even better known under the name of "Master of Agüero". I had seen his works in San Juan de la Peña and Sangüesa, but what he created here are real masterpieces.

Here are the corbels under the tympanum (see previous upload). They flank the wooden door and are easy to be seen by anybody entering the church. These two fierce, devouring lions are a warning. On the left a fully dressed warrior is caught. He is still fighting with a sword and a long club. One of his legs is already in the beasts mouth. One the right an obviously nude lady. Both of her legs are in the beasts mouth - and it looks like she waves farewell to the shocked onlookers.