One of the great phrases that Michael Curtiz's masterful film, 'Casablanca', bequeathed to posterity is that, once its main protagonists reconciled, assuming their destinies, they said to each other: 'We will always have Paris'.

Something similar occurs when it comes to attributing the origins of this spectacular example of a church-fortress, which is the main temple of a municipality in Palencia, called Villamuriel de Cerrato, located just five or six kilometers from the capital -on whose imposing cathedral, we will investigate in the future- and in the heart, it could be said, of one of the harshest and most feared regions by pilgrims of all times: the Gothic Fields; or what is the same, the infinite and terrible Palencia plateau.

This Shakespearean indecision, this to be or not to be, between the attribution of this architectural jewel to the Knights Templar, to whom popular tradition always alludes, and an officialdom that bets, without further ado, on the bishops of Palencia - who have the support of numerous historians and even the current Councilor for Culture of the City Council of Villamuriel de Cerrato, to whom, by the way, I am enormously grateful, not only for having opened the doors of a temple that I had wanted to visit for a long time, but also for the gratifying conversation held, although in some aspects we did not agree - make this architectural, artistic and historical adventure have an undoubtedly special charisma.

In fact, few temples are so compact and impressive, seen from the outside, especially considering that it was built at the end of the 12th century, in that period of transition to a revolutionary style, mysteriously introduced in the West and that many historians maintain, without desire to complicate life too much, which originated spontaneously, as a natural solution to the obsolescence of an art, the Romanesque, which had prevailed until then: the Gothic.

Metaphorically speaking, we could say that Gothic can be intuited as a chained melody that seeks the light of God in the heights and in whose score, vaults, crossings and flying buttresses seem to form a harmonic symphony, where the amazing balance of the whole is revealed set.

Masterpiece, its dome, octagonal in shape -let's not forget the importance of this number within Sacred Geometry, which lying down, not only represents the symbol of infinity, but also served as the floor plan for many churches and monasteries, which Symbolically, they intended to reproduce the characteristics of the ambulatory of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem - equipped with small windows that let in light until it dilutes the possible shadows that fall on the baptistery, recalls one of the monumental resources of Mudejar architecture, one of whose formidable examples can be the magnificent Romanesque church of San Miguel, located in the town of Almazán in Soria.

With some subsequent modifications, including the tower, which was the seat and dwelling of successive Palencian bishops throughout history and whose dangerous internal state does not allow a visit, the temple of Santa María la Mayor in Villamuriel de Cerrato, unlike many others, still remains more or less true to its early originality.

An originality, which, although outwardly notices differences, is precisely in its interior where the traveler who has visited other monumental temples of the rich architectural heritage of Palencia, will experience a sensation of curious familiarity, remembering the nearby and also church of Santa María la Blanca , located in the town of Villalcázar de Sirga, inside which is the mutilated image of the miraculous Virgin to whom the cultured king, Alfonso X el Sabio, dedicated his best-known work: the Cantigas a Santa María.

That of Villalcázar de Sirga, was a church that was part of one of the main orders of the Order of the Temple in the Iberian Peninsula, located in the middle of the Camino de Santiago and that, in addition, had a fabulous hospital and hostel for pilgrims, which At present, it continues with its doors open, although carrying out the tasks of a magnificent restaurant, inside which you can savor the best dishes of the rich and varied food from Palencia and which was seriously affected by the terrible earthquake that devastated Lisbon in 1775. , the capital of Portugal.

In short: an extraordinary example of a Gothic temple and also a fortress, which, saving some modern modifications and even some additions to its original messenger -for example, the heads of a dog and a man, representative of a curious road saint, San Roque- the sale or theft of the main altarpieces and cult objects of the time -those it currently has are replacements- and its familiarity with the architecture that the Knights Templar paid for and put into practice in times, it is worth visiting for all lovers of architecture. architecture and art in general.

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