Oloron Romanesque portal, its monsters... its ham

The pig carvingThe pig carving | ©Turol Jones, un artista de cojones / CC-BY

Whoa, a Romanesque portal… intact, pretty rare! We can see kings and princes holding chained Moors, gathered here to pay a tribute to the Virgin Mary.

We also can see the 24 old men of the Apocalypse, playing music: the representation of Heaven.

The Earth is represented by scenes dealing with daily life: salmon fishing, hunting, goose plucking, ham cutting… the life of people from Béarn!

On one side, a rider, saint Constantin trampling the paganism.

On the other side, a horrible monster eating a man. Horrible like the Old men’s eyes, fixed and bulging: they look like the little leaden balls in the characters’ eyes sculpted on Romanesque churches’ capitals, in Berry...