The Door of Death, León Cathedral

[Bert45]

On the south façade, the Door of Death, so called because of the figure of a skeleton with wings that is located inside one of the corbels. [barcelo.com]
The left portico [of the west façade] is called “Puerta de la Muerte” [Gate of Death] ....The name Puerta de la Muerte comes from the figure of a skeleton with wings. [http://madillcamino2014.blogspot.com]

I looked for this on my visit earlier this year, but I was unable to find it. I was probably looking in the wrong place. I asked people in the cathedral, but either my Spanish wasn't good enough, or they didn't know where it was.

Does anyone on the forum have a photo of this winged skeleton they'd like to share? Also its location?

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

The location is #24 in this plan:

A translation from https://www.nuevatribuna.es/articul...ia-cultura-leon/20240820194008229890.amp.html

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The south door also has three porticos, in the style of the French Gothic cathedrals, built between 1265 and 1275.​

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The left door is called the “death door”, due to the configuration that accompanies the heraldic sieve of Castile and Leon. It has no decoration on the tympanum, only on the archivolts and jambs. The name Puerta de la Muerte comes from a figure of a skeleton with wings, placed in a later period on one of the corbels.​

This PDF file has a ton of information on the cathedral in Spanish and English (including a picture of la Puerta de la Muerte on page 89). I haven't come up with a picture of the winged skeleton yet.

https://www.revistacatedraldeleon.es/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/revista-catedral-leon-7-completa.pdf[/I][/INDENT]

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[Rick of Rick and Peg]

Looking for the winged skeleton (which I didn't find here) I came upon this webpage which has way more information than you would expect from its description. Search for Puerta de la Muerte of course. It has information that you may like.

Monday, ‎September ‎08, ‎2014 – León Cathedral

After Don returned to Hostal Boccalino with our laundry, MT was feeling better. So we both went to visit the Cathedral . ‏‎3:3...

madillcamino2014.blogspot.com

Also there is the following that you might miss. The skeleton is on a corbel that was a later addition to the cathedral.

The south façade was the area that suffered most construction problems, having been rebuilt several times. In the 17th century, the clerestory was walled up and a Baroque gable was emplaced. In the 18th century, after the earthquake of Lisbon, its rose window was dismantled and replaced by a Baroque double window. Fortunately, the great restoration of the late 19th century built a new rosette, clerestory, and neo-Gothic gable, imitating the north façade, which was never retouched. The south portal also has triple porticos, constructed between 1265 and 1275.​

 

[Bert45]

Thanks, Rick. That blog is the one I (mis)quoted from in my first post, since corrected. Those two did a lot of 'research' (not by Kathar1na's definition), but they do get things wrong from time to time (not suggesting that their description of the south façade is wrong). I have now seen a photo of the winged skeleton. It is at the bottom right-hand corner of the outermost arch of the west portico of the south façade, thanks to Kathor1. But I don't have the necessary skills to tell you how to find it.

 

[rappahannock_rev]

Looks like that would place it across the aisle from the large plaque erected to honor the Leonese priests and seminarians killed during the Civil War....

 

[Bert45]

Looks like that would place it across the aisle from the large plaque erected to honor the Leonese priests and seminarians killed during the Civil War....

I don't understand your reference to 'the aisle'. What aisle? Is the plaque inside the Cathedral?

 

[rappahannock_rev]

I don't understand your reference to 'the aisle'. What aisle? Is the plaque inside the Cathedral?

My mistake! As I look again at the floorplan shown above, I see that this "Death Door" must be an entrance into the cathedral itself, from the plaza, one with which I was not familiar.... (I was thinking that it was an interior door.) The plaque I refer to is inside the cathedral. It is on the exterior wall of the choir to the right of the number "6", looking towards the number "24." .... I attach a Sept 2021 photo.

 

[Bert45]

My mistake! As I look again at the floorplan shown above, I see that this "Death Door" must be an entrance into the cathedral itself, from the plaza, one with which I was not familiar.... (I was thinking that it was an interior door.) The plaque I refer to is inside the cathedral. It is on the exterior wall of the choir to the right of the number "6", looking towards the number "24." .... I attach a Sept 2021 photo.

View attachment 181275

Yes, the winged skeleton is on the exterior of the Portico de la Muerte.