The Collegiate church of Santa María la Mayor is a medieval church in Toro,

province of Zamora Zamora () is a province of western Spain, in the western part of the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is bordered by the provinces of Ourense, León, Valladolid, and Salamanca, and by Portugal. The present-day province of Zamora w ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. It is dedicated to Saint Mary the Great (a

Marian devotion Marian devotions are external pious practices directed to the person of Mary, mother of God, by members of certain Christian traditions. They are performed in Catholicism, High Church Lutheranism, Anglo-Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy and Orien ...

, it is a common name for churches and sites).

Construction

One of the most characteristic examples of transitional

Romanesque architecture Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of medieval Europe characterized by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque style, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 11th century, this lat ...

in Spain, the church of Santa María la Mayor is inspired by the

Cathedral of Zamora The Cathedral of Zamora is a Catholic cathedral in Zamora, in Castile and León, Spain, located above the right bank of the Duero It remains surrounded by its old walls and gates. Built between 1151 and 1174, it is one of the finest exampl ...

, in turn, inspired by the

Old Cathedral of Salamanca The Old Cathedral (Spanish: ''Catedral Vieja de Santa María'') is one of two cathedrals in Salamanca, Spain, the other being the New Cathedral of Salamanca. The two cathedrals are joined together. History It was founded by Bishop Jerome of Pér ...

. The tower-dome is usually listed as one of the four most typical in León together with those in the cathedrals of Salamanca,

Plasencia Plasencia () is a walled market city in the province of Cáceres, Extremadura, Western Spain. , it has a population of 41,047. Situated on the bank of the Jerte River, Plasencia has a historic quarter that is a consequence of the city's stra ...

and Zamora. It was begun around 1170 and was finished in the mid-13th century. Two different directors of the work have been identified, according to the different types of stone used (limestone in the old sections,

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

in the most recent ones), and by the

barrel vault A barrel vault, also known as a tunnel vault, wagon vault or wagonhead vault, is an architectural element formed by the extrusion of a single curve (or pair of curves, in the case of a pointed barrel vault) along a given distance. The curves are ...

s in the transept. The church is on the basilica plan, with a nave and two aisles, with a transept over whose crossing is the

hendecagon In geometry, a hendecagon (also undecagon or endecagon) or 11-gon is an eleven-sided polygon. (The name ''hendecagon'', from Greek ''hendeka'' "eleven" and ''–gon'' "corner", is often preferred to the hybrid ''undecagon'', whose first part is f ...

dome A dome () is an architectural element similar to the hollow upper half of a sphere. There is significant overlap with the term cupola, which may also refer to a dome or a structure on top of a dome. The precise definition of a dome has been a m ...

. The transept ends with three semicircular apses. Notable is the Majesty Portico (''Pórtico de la Majestad''), which houses the southern entrance. It was built in the reign of Sancho IV of Castile and León (1284–1295) and is decorated with polychrome sculptures depicting scenes of the life of the Virgin, Christ, and the Final Judgement.

Interior

Also in the church are the

Flemish Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...

painting ''La Virgen de la Mosca'' ("Virgin of the Fly") and an unusual sculpture of a Pregnant Virgin, dating to the 13th century. The painting of the Virgin of the Fly is especially unusual because of the realistic portrayal of a fly on the tunic which covers the Virgin's knee. Studies of the work demonstrate that this insect was added later. These same studies have pointed out numerous touchings-up in the original painting, such as the halo that surrounds the head of the Virgin, previously covered by a veil, or the rich embroidery on the dress of

Saint Catherine of Alexandria Catherine of Alexandria (also spelled Katherine); grc-gre, ἡ Ἁγία Αἰκατερίνη ἡ Μεγαλομάρτυς ; ar, سانت كاترين; la, Catharina Alexandrina). is, according to tradition, a Christian saint and virgin, wh ...

, whose face has a great resemblance to some paintings of

Isabella I of Castile Isabella I ( es, Isabel I; 22 April 1451 – 26 November 1504), also called Isabella the Catholic (Spanish: ''la Católica''), was Queen of Castile from 1474 until her death in 1504, as well as List of Aragonese royal consorts, Queen consort ...

External links

Page at castillosnet
{{DEFAULTSORT:Colegiata De Santa Maria La Mayor (Toro) 13th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Spain Collegiate churches in Spain Romanesque architecture in Castile and León Toro Roman Catholic churches in Castile and León

Construction

Interior

See also

External links