Church of San Bartolomé

The Church of San Bartolomé is the oldest surviving church in Logroño, with parts of the structure dating to the twelfth century, making it older than almost everything else in the old town. The exterior is rather austere, but the south portal is one of the finest examples of Gothic sculpture in La Rioja: the tympanum and archivolt are carved with scenes from the life of the Virgin and of St Bartholomew, executed with considerable skill and narrative energy.

The church stands in a quiet square in the upper part of the old town, slightly removed from the tourist trail, which gives it an authentic neighborhood character. The interior has been altered over the centuries but retains its medieval proportions, and the climbing of the streets around it on foot repays the effort with views over the Ebro valley.

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A story
San Bartolomé is the oldest church in Logroño, with origins in the twelfth century. The south portal carved between the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries features an unusually vivid series of narrative scenes from the life of St Bartholomew, including his martyrdom by flaying — depicted with the kind of unflinching medieval directness that no modern artist would attempt.