San Esteban de Atán (Lugo). Un ejemplo de iglesia que no es lo que parece

Abstract

The archaeological analysis of the church of San Esteban de Atán (Lugo) offers a stratigraphic sequence rich in phases and results. Documentary sources and some decorative elements (lattices) appear to affirm the existence of a pre-Romanesque church previous to the present Romanesque style church. The reading of facings does not document any building phase that might correspond to these indications. Of the singular pieces considered pre-Romanesque, only one can be confirmed from this date, but its original location is unknown. On this basis, it is impossible to sustain the hypothesis of the church as pre-Romanesque. Secondly, the present construction, catalogued as belonging to the Romanesque period according to architectonic and decorative typologies, belongs in fact to the low medieval period, as seen in diverse relations and in the fact that elements accepted as chronological indicators have been reused in the walls. The results at Atán challenge the classifications within history of art, and this example is surely not an exception.