Let’s look at one last building, the old
town’s Church of Santa Maria la Mayor. Its double
galleried front (pictured above left) gives it one of the
most unusual religious facades we saw in a building this
old. Inside, it’s an explosion of gold and carved
wood. The Moorish DNA is most obvious in the minaret base
of its tower.
While unusual, the front somewhat matches the long city
hall next to it – three stories with galleries on
the upper two floors (see lower right inset in the top
picture on this page). On both buildings these verandas
provide safe views during festivals in the central
plaza.
Like many Andalusian churches created just after the
Reconquista, Santa Maria la Mayor was built on the
foundation of the defeated Moors' mosque and dedicated to
the Incarnation. Often visitors to such churches are
reminded of the Incarnation by an elaborate relief of
Archangel Gabriel informing the Virgin Mary with the dove
of the Holy Spirit hovering above the entrance door. But
not at Santa Maria la Mayor. Instead a bronze plaque
(upper right in top photo) serves this function, placed
far from the door perhaps as an afterthought in 1999.
From Evangelist John’s first chapter (called, of
course,
The Last
Gospel) the plaque’s Latin reminds
pre-Vatican II Catholics, “Et verbum caro factus
est.” The word was made flesh.
Exterior
Santa Maria la Mayor (to the right in the picture above)
is one of several monumental buildings in the old city
(Cuidad) defining this lovely park dedicated to the early
20th century Duchess of Parcent. Its a fitting tribute to
the woman who hired landscape architect Forestier to
create the gardens at her home (Casa del Rey Moor).
The building edge at left is that of city hall and at
center distance is the tower of the Convent of Santa
Isabel. Isabel was a Portugal Queen who tried to give
much of her husband’s wealth to the poor. When he
died, she founded and lived in a Franciscan convent of
St. Claire.
Moorish roots
Santa Maria’s Arab roots shine through this old
minaret tower -- baptized with a Renaissance wedding cake
shaped peak.
The Moors chose a site that may have been a Roman temple.
After the 1485 Reconquista, Ferdinand and Isabel ordered
a Gothic church to rise upon the mosque’s
foundation. An earthquake a century later caused a
rebuild and additions that lasted through the 18th
century. The results are either hodgepodge or fusion
incorporating elements of Mudejar, Gothic, Renaissance,
and Baroque.
The only other trace of the Moors is in this arch,
thought to be from the old Mihrab, the niche worshippers
in a mosque use to face Mecca during prayers.
Interior
Inside Santa Maria has the feel of a small cathedral even
though it was never the seat of a diocese. The Gothic
structure occupies the mosque’s footprint; with
its extensions the floor plan has pretty much the
long rectangular shape of a Roman basilica broken by the
tall walls of the central choir. Note this side aisle
with a Renaissance Corinthian pillar at right defining
the central nave area and the stippled Baroque column at
left at the entrance of the side altar.
Better wood carvers than mathematicians
In an Andalusia known for golden altars (fed by wealth
from the emerging Spanish colonies), finding Santa
Maria's elaborate woodcarvings was a treat. This is the
rear choir screen centering on Our Lady of Peace
surrounded by 14 Renaissance reliefs which seem to be
loosely based upon the 15 mysteries of the Rosary. The
Roman numerals below each scene are generally
misleading.
For instance, the scene above is labeled “IX”
but is of the
5th mystery of the Rosary. It represents
Evangelist Luke’s story of the Disputation: The
Finding in the Temple where the adolescent Christ is
discovered instructing the wise men in the temple. (His
parents lost him for 3 days, each assuming he was with
the other. Still we think of them as model parents so
standards must have been even lower in those days than
they are now!) Note the building carved in relief at
upper left appears to be the church of Santa Maria la
Mayor itself.
The choir
On the other side of this screen is the main area of the
choir, again carved in wood as is traditional. Twelve
seats in the lower row are carved with Marian symbolism
while the twenty-four seats of the upper row contain
images of the apostles and other saints. At its center
are displayed various floats used in religious
processions.
Retables in wood and gold
Carved wood also serves as a backdrop for some of the
side altars such as here at the far Gospel side altar
with the Sacred Heart between those alpha apostles Peter
and Paul (whom is hiding in his niche).
But Andalusian golden retables are not missing here: St.
Joseph (that other parent) stands on the rearmost side
altar on the Epistle Side.
Main Altar
And our last picture, here of the main altar which
combines precious metal (the silver altar) underneath an
elaborately wood carved canopy. Here Archangel
Gabriel and the dovish Holy Spirit are properly presented
informing Mary of the Incarnation. Here if The Word is
not made flesh, then it’s at least adequately
represented in wood and precious metals.
Thanks for viewing. Please visit our other travel
pictures
by clicking here.
Please join us in the following slide show to
give Ronda the viewing it deserves by clicking here.
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