The Church of Saint Mary the Ancient ( es, Santa María La Antigua) is a 12th-century church in

Valladolid Valladolid () is a municipality in Spain and the primary seat of government and de facto capital of the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. It has a population around 300,000 peop ...

, central

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 declared ''

Bien de Interés Cultural A Bien de Interés Cultural is a category of the heritage register in Spain. The term is also used in Venezuela and other Spanish-speaking countries. The term literally means a "good of cultural interest" (" goods" in the economic sense) and incl ...

'' in 1897.

History

Under the current building foundations have been found remains of a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lett ...

hypocaustum . The church was likely founded in 1095 by Count Pedro Ansúrez, although there are no remains of this original structure. The oldest parts of the current temple date to the late 12th century: the gallery in the northern side of the building and the tower, both in

Romanesque style 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 later ...

. The tower, one of the symbols of Valladolid, has four floors, the upper three featuring windows, and a pyramidal top. The naves and sanctuary of the church were rebuilt in the 14th century in

Gothic style Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

, following the style of Burgos Cathedral. The church has three aisles, with three polygonal apses and a transept. The nave and the aisles are

rib 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, Islami ...

ed. Due to a poor design and construction and the increasing size of the parish population, the building underwent successive additions and reparations: in the mid-16th century, architect

Rodrigo Gil de Hontañón Rodrigo Gil de Hontañón (1500–1577) was a Spanish architect of the Renaissance. He was born at Rascafría. His work alternated the late gothic with the renaissance style. His workings include the Palace of Monterrey in Salamanca, the Pal ...

restored the collapsing building, adding

buttress A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall. Buttresses are fairly common on more ancient buildings, as a means of providing support to act against the lateral (s ...

es and several windows. Also from this period date the high altar retablo, by

Juan de Juni Juan de Juni (Fr. Jean de Joigny; c. 1507–1577) was a French–Spanish sculptor, who also worked as a painter and architect. Career Juan de Juni was born in Joigny, France, but began working in Italy, where he was first employed. In 1533 ...

(1550-1562; now in the

Valladolid Cathedral The Cathedral of Our Lady of the Holy Assumption ( es, Catedral de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción), better known as Valladolid Cathedral, is a Roman Catholic church in Valladolid, Spain. The main layout was designed by Juan de Herrera in a Rena ...

). Several Baroque altarpieces were executed for the church's interior during the 17th and 18th centuries, hiding the original Gothic appearance. In the early 20th century the building was extensively restored and rebuilt in order to show its original Romanesque-Gothic appearance, following the doctrines of the French architect

Eugène Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc Eugene is a common male given name that comes from the Greek εὐγενής (''eugenēs''), "noble", literally "well-born", from εὖ (''eu''), "well" and γένος (''genos''), "race, stock, kin".Edward Hawke Locker Edward Hawke Locker (9 October 1777, in East Malling, Kent – 16 October 1849, in Iver, Buckinghamshire) was an English watercolourist (producing works now in the V&A and British Museum) and administrator of the Royal Naval Hospital, Greenwi ...

Image:Antigua restauración.jpg, early 20th century Image:Fundación Joaquín Díaz - Iglesia de Santa María de la Antigua - Valladolid (6).jpg, at 1950s Image:Fundación Joaquín Díaz - Iglesia de Santa María de la Antigua - Valladolid (11).jpg, at 1980s Image:Iglesia de Santa María La Antigua..jpg, at night Image:La Antigua Valladolid.jpg, view Image:IglesiaDeSantaMaríaLaAntigua20110905164612P1120844.jpg, Portugalete Square Image:Night-mist-view-la-antigua-church-valladolid-es.jpg, Front view of La Antigua Church in a misty winter night Image:Nuestra Señora de la Antigua. Valladolid.jpg, Side view of 2014

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Santa Maria La Antigua Roman Catholic churches in Valladolid Bien de Interés Cultural landmarks in the Province of Valladolid Gothic architecture in Castile and León Romanesque architecture in Castile and León

History

See also

References