Repoblación art and architecture

However, the term "repoblación art" emphasizes that these churches were not always built by the small groups of Mozarabic people who moved to these areas from Muslim-controlled lands.

However, it had long been suggested that the monumental buildings in northern Spain from this period were crafted by the modest groups of Mozarabic immigrants that settled in the areas of repopulation when the living conditions in Muslim al-Andalus became difficult to bear.

These influences are manifested in the perfectly executed horseshoe arches, the elaborate spatial articulations, and in some cases, as in the church of Santiago de Peñalba (León), in the presence of murals that evidence the aesthetic relationship with Andalusian art.

These constructions usually have single-nave or simple division plans, horseshoe arches of Mozarabic influence, attached bell towers, and an incipient use of barrel vaults.

[3][4] These churches present hybrid characteristics, combining Mozarabic contributions in temples of Visigothic origin and, in many cases, with later extensions during the Romanesque period.