St. Nicholas Images in the High Altar of Iglesia San Nicolas

Burgos, Spain

The Burgos Church of St. Nicholas dates from before 1163, when it was mentioned in a papal bull by Alexander III. It became an independent parish apart from the cathedral in 1408 and construction of the present church took place in the latter half of the 1400s. After falling into ruin, it was completely restored in 1910 and named a National Monument in 1917. The church, on the route of the Camino de Santiago (Way of St. James), is highly ornamented Burgos Gothic with many Saint Nicholas images.

The main altar was carved in 1505 of stone from Hontoria de la Cantera (Burgos). It covers the entire front wall. Eight scenes from the life of Nicholas surround the central Saint Nicholas figure. It is the only surviving medieval stone altarpiece in Burgos.

Burgos High Altar — Eight scenes of Saint Nicholas' life and miracles surround the central St. Nicholas figure

St Nicholas carving — The central figure of Saint Nicholas

More photos of the church

Photos:
J M Rosenthal/SNS, used by permission
Complete high altar: AeroCap, Wikimedia Commons, used under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license

Sources:
La Iglesia de San Nicolas de Bari Burgos: Arte e Historia, 2 edición by Jesús López Sobrino, AMABAR, S.L., 2000
Saint Nicholas of Bari's Church (Burgos): Touristic Visit, Santos S.L. Dep. Legal BU-392/98