Visigothic Architecture

The architecture of the Visigoths was small in scale but employed excellent masonry work, with stone vaulting frequently used and horseshoe arches as a characteristic feature. Seventh-century buildings such as San Juan Bautista at Banos de Cerrato, built in 661, were most often basilican in plan and short and wide in elevation. The Visigoths entered Hispania, in what is now Spain and Portugal, in 415 and remained the dominant people there until the Umayyad conquest of 711 ended their kingdom, and their building style was shaped by local Roman traditions, Byzantine art and Germanic metalworking techniques.