Treasure of Guarrazar

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Votive crown of Reccesuinth, hanging in Madrid. The hanging letters spell [R]ECCESVINTUVS REX DEFERET. The first R is held at Cluny, Paris.

Votive crown of Reccesuinth, hanging in Madrid

The Treasure of Guarrazar is an archeological find composed of votive crowns and crosses offered to the Roman Catholic Church by the Kings of the Visigoths in the seventh century in Hispania.

Location of Guadamur.

The treasure was dug between 1858 and 1861 in an orchard called Guarrazar, in Guadamur, very close to Toledo. The treasure was partitioned, with some objects going to the Musée de Cluny in Paris [1] and the rest to the armouries of the Palacio Real in Madrid (today in the National Archaeological Museum of Spain).

The most valuable pieces of the find were the two royal votive crowns: one of King Reccesuinth and one of King Suinthila. Both are of gold, encrusted with sapphires, pearls, and other precious stones. Suinthila's was stolen in 1921 and never recovered. There are several other small crowns and many votive crosses. There were belts in the original find as well, but these have since vanished.

Another votive crown from the Treasure (Musée de Cluny

The jewellery found at Guarrazar is part of tradition of Iberian manufacturing that goes back to prehistoric times. It was influenced heavily by both the Byzantines and the Visigoths. The techniques of gem encrustation found at Guarrazar were practised throughout the Germanic world and the style of the lettering was Germanic too. The crowns, however, were purely Byzantine in form and never meant to be worn. They were gifts to the church, to be hung above the altar.