Heritage · Tortonda
Church of Tortonda: a Romanesque gallery facing north
The church of La Concepción in Tortonda, a hamlet of Alcolea del Pinar since 1970, is a fine example of rural Romanesque. Despite alterations in the 16th and 17th centuries, it retains a porticoed gallery of semicircular arches on paired columns with foliate capitals, unusually facing north, and a two-archivolt west portal.
- Municipality
- Tortonda
- Province
- Guadalajara
- Altitude
- 1,104 m
- Rural Romanesque
- Porticoed gallery
- Facing north
- Alcolea del Pinar
An unusual portico
Tortonda was an independent municipality until 1970, when it merged with Alcolea del Pinar. Its church of La Concepción has something rare in regional Romanesque: the porticoed gallery opens to the north, whereas builders usually faced south toward the sun.
What remains
The gallery consists of semicircular arches on paired columns with foliate capitals. Alterations in the 16th and 17th centuries modified its original look: the corbels of the nave still show where the wall was raised. The west portal has two semicircular archivolts resting on pilasters, and there is another 16th-century Renaissance entrance, now walled up.
Nearby
Tortonda lies on the western edge of the region, near Alcolea del Pinar and the Tajuña valley.
Location
● Reference point · ● Villages · ● Places
Location diagram. Detailed map with tracks and names loads on zoom.
Reference villages: Tortonda · Luzaga · Alcolea del Pinar · Aguilar de Anguita.
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