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The Raya or frontier between the kingdoms of Castile and Aragón was fortified with a system of castles and walled-cities that were useful during the several conflicts that took place in the late Middle Ages. The Serón de Nágima castle defended the communication road between the axis of the Jalón river valley, which flows into the Ebro, and Duero valley. Its uniqueness stems from the fact that it is one of the few fortifications in the area where rammed earth is the only building system used. In this paper, the castle building fundaments are exposed mainly focusing on the techniques and building processes developed from the interpretation of the legible constructive signs in its walls.
The late medieval strategy for delimitating and defending the frontier between Castile and Aragón was in its systematic fortification. Ancient castles and Muslim fortifications were repaired and new buildings for defense were erected. The aim of the author's Doctoral Thesis, which gathers from the present paper, is to know the construction techniques of a selection of these castles, so as to interpret the building activity of that historical moment and analyze the systematization of these construction techniques within the historical, geographical and architectural context.The research method consists of a fieldwork in which a series of castles are documented and surveyed; they are previously selected after analyzing the bibliographical works of the medieval Soria's castellology.
References:Stavanger Cathedral is Norway's oldest cathedral. Bishop Reinald, who may have come from Winchester, is said to have started construction of the Cathedral around 1100. It was finished around 1150, and the city of Stavanger counts 1125 as its year of foundation. The Cathedral was consecrated to Swithin as its patron saint. Saint Swithun was an early Bishop of Winchester and subsequently patron saint of Winchester Cathedral. Stavanger was ravaged by fire in 1272, and the Cathedral suffered heavy damage. It was rebuilt under bishop Arne, and the Romanesque Cathedral was enlarged in the Gothic style.
In 1682, king Christian V decided to move Stavanger's episcopal seat to Kristiansand. However, on Stavanger's 800th anniversary in 1925, king Haakon VII instated Jacob Christian Petersen as Stavanger's first bishop in nearly 250 years.During a renovation in the 1860s, the Cathedral's exterior and interior was considerably altered. The stone walls were plastered, and the Cathedral lost much of its medieval looks. A major restoration led by Gerhard Fischer in 1939-1964 partly reversed those changes. The latest major restoration of the Cathedral was conducted in 1999. Andrew Lawrenceson Smith is famous for his works here.
