Santa María la Mayor is a church in
Alcañiz
Alcañiz () is a town and municipality of Teruel province in the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. The town is located on the banks of the river Guadalope. Alcañiz is the unofficial capital of the Lower Aragon historical region. It lies ...
, Aragon, northern Spain. It had the status of
collegiate church
In Christianity, a collegiate church is a church where the daily office of worship is maintained by a college of canons, a non-monastic or "secular" community of clergy, organised as a self-governing corporate body, headed by a dignitary bearing ...
from 1407 to 1851. It includes a large
Gothic tower, and a wide façade in
Baroque
The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...
style.
History and description
The Gothic church was built in the 13th century: of it, the bell tower and other fragments remain. This church had a nave and two aisles, a polygonal apse and an ambulatory. The size of the tower was motivated by a competition of the communal authority with the nearby castle of the
Order of Calatrava
The Order of Calatrava (, ) was one of the Spanish military orders, four Spanish military orders and the first Military order (society), military order founded in Kingdom of Castile, Castile, but the second to receive papal approval. The papal bu ...
.
Pope Benedict XIII
Pope Benedict XIII (; ; 2 February 1649 – 21 February 1730), born Pietro Francesco (or Pierfrancesco) Orsini and later called Vincenzo Maria Orsini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 29 May 1724 to his death in ...
, in 1407, gave it the status of collegiate church.
In the 16th century, a chapel housing the images of the Virgin of the Solitude and of Jesus, was added. In the 18th century, it was decided to demolish the Gothic church, at the time in poor state (a column in the choir had collapsed), and to replace it with a Baroque building based on the
Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar
The Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar () is a Catholic church in the city of Zaragoza, Aragon. It is dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary under the title of Our Lady of the Pillar, praised as "Mother of the Hispanic Peoples" by Pope ...
at
Zaragoza
Zaragoza (), traditionally known in English as Saragossa ( ), is the capital city of the province of Zaragoza and of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributaries, the ...
, with a higher capacity. The new edifice has a façade with two high side towers and a central portal. The latter was designed by the Basque artist
Domingo de Yarza (also responsible for that in the Basilica of the Pillar. In the lower section are the depictions of Sts. Peter and Paul, while in the second are four Archangels flanking a large sculpture of St. Mary; in the top section are
St. Thomas of Aquino on the left and
St. Vincent Ferrer on the right. Over the gate is the crest of the collegiate, with the bamboo of
Alcañiz
Alcañiz () is a town and municipality of Teruel province in the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. The town is located on the banks of the river Guadalope. Alcañiz is the unofficial capital of the Lower Aragon historical region. It lies ...
's coat of arms and Benedict XIII's coat of arms as well. The portal was finished in 1779.
250px, Gothic painting of ''St. Mary Magdalene''.
The nave and the arms of the transept are covered with barrel vault. The aisles are instead covered by a groin vault, while the lateral chapels are characterized oval and circular domes. The cimborio of the central dome is made of brick. It has an octagonal ground plan and it is decorated with geometrical motifs.
The interior houses several paintings, the most relevant being a Gothic polyptych attributed to the workshop of
Domingo Ram, including several predellas and a depiction of St. Mary Magdalene. Other works include six paintings from the early 16th century, attributed to one "Master of Alcañiz".
See also
*
Catholic Church in Spain
The Spanish Catholic Church, or Catholic Church in Spain, is part of the Catholic Church under the spiritual leadership of the Pope in Holy See, Rome, and the Spanish Episcopal Conference.
The Spanish Constitution of 1978 establishes the non- ...
References
Sources
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External links
Page at Alcañiz's official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Santa Maria La Mayor (Alcaniz)
Maria La Mayor, Alcaniz
18th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Spain
Baroque architecture in Aragon
Gothic architecture in Aragon