Iglesia de San Esteban, Romanesque parish church in Sos del Rey Católico, Aragon, Spain
The Iglesia de San Esteban is a Romanesque parish church at the top of Sos del Rey Católico, in Aragon, Spain, built next to an old castle tower. It has three naves with vaulted ceilings, three rounded apses, and a crypt reached through a covered passageway.
The church was founded around 1055 with support from Queen Estefanía of Navarre, and the stonemason Maestro Esteban worked on it around 1100. In the 16th century, side chapels with star-shaped vaults were added, along with a Renaissance doorway on the south side.
The main north portal is decorated with carved figures including King David holding a musical instrument, saints, and a bishop, all in stone. These carvings closely resemble work found at the nearby monastery of Leyre in Navarra, pointing to shared craftsmen or workshops in the region.
The church sits at the end of Calle Mariana Pérez de Biel, at the very top of the village, reached by walking up steep cobbled lanes. A visit to the crypt is worth planning for, as it is the oldest part of the building and feels quite different from the main nave above.
In the cloister connecting the crypt to the main church, twenty-two crosses are buried in the ground, one of which has the name "Stephania" engraved on it, recalling the church's founding patron. The flower-shaped baptismal font in the baptistery is said by tradition to be the one used at the baptism of King Ferdinand the Catholic in 1452.
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