Bell-gable
The bell gable (Spanish: espadaña, French: clocher-mur, Italian: campanile a vela) is an architectural element crowning the upper end of the wall of church buildings, usually in lieu of a church tower. It consists of a gable end in stone, with small hollow semi-circular arches where the church bells are placed. It is a characteristic example of the simplicity of Romanesque architecture.
Overview[]
The bell-gables or espadañas are a feature of Romanesque architecture in Spain. Since they were easier and cheaper to build than a church tower or bell tower, they are especially common in small village churches throughout Spain and Portugal. This simple and sober architectural element would later be brought to the Americas and the Philippines by the Iberian colonizers, where it would find widespread use especially in the earliest structures.[1]
The bell gable usually rises over the front façade wall, but in some churches it may be located on top of any other wall or even on top of the in the midst of the roof. In the Spanish regions of Catalonia and the Valencian Community, the bell-gables are also known as campanar de paret (wall bell tower) or campanar de cadireta.[2] (little-chair bell tower) because it reminds one of the back of a chair.
In Écija, Spain, the bell tower of the church of Santa Bárbara fell destroyed by a lightning strike in 1892 and was replaced by an espadaña,[3] a more expedient solution than rebuilding the tower.
Main types and styles[]
Bell gable at San Blas de Illescas Church, Puerto Rico
Four-eyed bell gable at Sant Pere d'Ullastret church, Spain.
Church at San Salvador, Hidalgo, Mexico. Notice the small bell-gable in the top of the smaller chapel.
Unoccupied bell-gable at Fort San Pedro, in Cebú, Philippines.
Two bell-gables at El Carmen complex in San Ángel, Mexico.
Bell-gable at Basco Cathedral, Philippines.
Bell-gable on the village church in Argnat, Puy-de-Dôme, France
Unoccupied bell-gable in a chapel at San Luis de la Paz, Mexico.
Bell-gable at Mission San Juan Bautista, USA.
The espadaña of the Basilica de Nuestra Señora de la Vega, Haro, Spain
Gomariz church in Leiro, Galicia (Spain)
Old bell-gable at Tochimilco, Mexico, reused as a niche.
Sant Jaume d'Enveja church with its large bell-gable, Spain.
Convent in Metztitlán, Mexico, with a bell-gable on top.
Nailloux, Haute-Garonne, France, Toulouse-type "clocher-mur"
Static bells struck by solenoid-operated hammers in a bell-gable.
Ermita de Valmayor Valdemorillo (Spain)
Weird bell-gable in the Merced de las Huertas church, in Mexico City. It is attached to a belltower.
See also[]
References[]
- ^ Luis Navarro García, América en el siglo XVIII. Los primeros Borbones, ISBN 978-84-321-2107-4
- ^ Romànic de la Vall de Camprodon
- ^ Ramon Freire Galvez, Écija, lo que no conocimos.... lo que perdimos... Archived July 13, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
External links[]
![]() |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bell gables. |
- Bamboo or Brick: The travails of building churches in Spanish Colonial Philippines by Jose Regalado Trota, Ayala Museum
- Church architecture
- Architectural elements
- Types of wall