The Church of Nuestra Señora de la Mayor is a Roman Catholic church in

Soria Soria () is a municipality and a Spanish city, located on the Douro river in the east of the autonomous community of Castile and León and capital of the province of Soria. Its population is 38,881 ( INE, 2017), 43.7% of the provincial populati ...

Castile and León Castile and León ( es, Castilla y León ; ast-leo, Castiella y Llión ; gl, Castela e León ) is an autonomous community in northwestern Spain. It was created in 1983, eight years after the end of the Francoist regime, by the merging of th ...

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") , ...

It was built in the 16th century on the remains of the Romanesque church of

Saint Giles Saint Giles (, la, Aegidius, french: Gilles), also known as Giles the Hermit, was a hermit or monk active in the lower Rhône most likely in the 6th century. Revered as a saint, his cult became widely diffused but his hagiography is mostly lege ...

, dating from the 12th or the 13th century. The low, square-shaped tower was part of the original building.

Exterior

The Romanesque doorway in the southern wall is composed of three

archivolt An archivolt (or voussure) is an ornamental moulding or band following the curve on the underside of an arch. It is composed of bands of ornamental mouldings (or other architectural elements) surrounding an arched opening, corresponding to the ...

s and decorated capitals. Next to this entrance stands the bronze sculpture (2012) by Ricardo Gonzalez Gil, representing Leonor Izquierdo Cuevas, dressed in the fashion of her time.

Interior

The interior of the church is composed of a nave, covered by a

ribbed vault A rib vault or ribbed vault is an architectural feature for covering a wide space, such as a church nave, composed of a framework of crossed or diagonal arched ribs. Variations were used in Roman architecture, Byzantine architecture, Islamic a ...

, and two aisles covered by barrel vaults. The walnut choir dates from 1523. Its origin is uncertain and probably originated from the collegiate church of San Pedro or from the abbey of La Merced. The massive

altarpiece An altarpiece is an artwork such as a painting, sculpture or relief representing a religious subject made for placing at the back of or behind the altar of a Christian church. Though most commonly used for a single work of art such as a painting ...

is the work of Francisco de Agreda (1571), with influences of Juan de Juni. Its style shows a transition between the

plateresque Plateresque, meaning "in the manner of a silversmith" (''plata'' being silver in Spanish), was an artistic movement, especially architectural, developed in Spain and its territories, which appeared between the late Gothic and early Renaissance ...

style and

Mannerism Mannerism, which may also be known as Late Renaissance, is a style in European art that emerged in the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520, spreading by about 1530 and lasting until about the end of the 16th century in Ital ...

Iglesia de Santa María la Mayor-Soria - P7234504

Conservation

Much of the church was rebuilt in the 19th century, when it threatened to become a ruin. The church was declared a

national monument A national monument is a monument constructed in order to commemorate something of importance to national heritage, such as a country's founding, independence, war, or the life and death of a historical figure. The term may also refer to a spe ...

in 1929.

References

External links

Tourism Office, Soria

guiadesoria.es
Pedro Luis Huerta, El arte romanico en la ciudad de Soria
{{coord, 41.76365, -2.46371, format=dms, type:landmark_region:ES, display=title Bien de Interés Cultural landmarks in the Province of Soria Roman Catholic churches in Soria