Cámara Santa

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Cámara Santa
Cámara Santa

The Cámara Santa (Holy Chamber) is part of a complex of buildings that surrounds the Cathedral of San Salvador in Oviedo , the capital of the Spanish autonomous community of Asturias . It was probably in the 8th / 9th Century was built as part of a palace complex.

In 1931 the Cámara Santa was declared a Monumento Nacional (Protected Cultural Property ). In 1998, together with the Church of San Julián de los Prados and the La Foncalada fountain house in Oviedo, it was added to the Monumentos de Oviedo y del Reino de Asturias (Monuments of Oviedo and the Kingdom of Asturias), which were recognized as World Heritage Sites in 1985 also the churches of Santa María del Naranco , San Miguel de Lillo and Santa Cristina de Lena are included in the list of UNESCO cultural monuments .

history

The Cámara Santa was probably built during the reign of the Asturian King Alfonso II (783 and 791-842) on the already existing, slightly older Michaelsturm of the royal palace, which stood next to the San Salvador church, consecrated in 812, a predecessor of the Oviedo cathedral . Perhaps it served as a palace chapel in which mainly relics were venerated, perhaps also as a repository for other valuable objects. However, the most important relics did not reach Oviedo until later. The installation of the Arca Santa , the holy shrine, in the Michael's Chapel is only documented from 1075. The reliquary of Cámara Santa became a destination for pilgrimages and was itself the starting point of the Camino Primitivo , the first Way of St. James to Santiago de Compostela .

During the Asturian miners' strike in 1934, the Cámara Santa was badly damaged by an explosive device. Between 1938 and 1942 it was restored by the architect Luis Menéndez-Pidal y Álvarez, using the original stone material again. On the occasion of the restoration, archaeological excavations took place here, for which several buildings in the area were demolished. The floor was also lowered by 70 cm so that these foundations remained visible. The chapel was consecrated on September 6, 1942.

In 1977 the Cámara Santa was broken into and the valuable reliquary, the angel's cross, the victory cross and the agate shrine, were stolen and badly damaged (see Burglary at the Cámara Santa ). The wall-mounted device was not damaged. The recovered parts were restored and brought back in 1985. The building was restored both inside and out between 2012 and 2014.

architecture

The building is made of smaller stone blocks that are put together in regular layers and were originally plastered. For the building corners and buttresses were square used. The building consists of two single-nave floors, one on top of the other, which can only be reached via separate entrances. The basement is accessible from the cloister of the cathedral, the upper floor via the south aisle of the church. The lower floor is now known as the Santa Leocadia crypt , the upper floor as the Michael's Chapel ( Capilla de San Miguel ).

Santa Leocadia crypt

Santa Leocadia crypt
Grave slab

The basement is known as the crypt of St. Leocadia . Leocadia suffered in the 4th century in Toledo to martyrdom . It has not been established whether or when her remains were brought to Oviedo. Under King Alfonso III. (866–910) the bones of the two martyrs of Córdoba , Leocritia and Eulogius , who were martyred in Córdoba in 859 , were transferred to Oviedo and buried here.

The rectangular space has a from brick -built barrel vaults , resting on a pedestal on the ground and has a peak height of only 2.30 meters. It is divided into the nave and the chancel . The latter has retained its original floor made of opus signinum . In front of the chancel there are three limestone tombstones from the time the building was built, two of which are decorated with a relief of plant motifs. There is a door on the north and south sides. A window opens on the east wall with a Greek cross in the stone grille . Two squat columns surround the window opening, under which there is a stone aedicula with a rectangular niche, in which perhaps relics were kept. The oldest mention of the crypt is from 908.

Michael's Chapel

Choir of the Michaelskapelle
Angel's cross (above), victory cross (below left), agate shrine (below right)

The room upstairs was a chapel dedicated to the Archangel Michael . While the chancel still has the original vault, the nave was fundamentally rebuilt under Bishop Pelayo II (1101–1129) and the original wooden ceiling was replaced by a barrel vault reinforced with belt arches . The twelve Romanesque apostle sculptures, which are arranged in pairs on the pillars that support the arches of the vault, date from 1165/75 . The figures are attributed to an unknown sculptor with the emergency name Meister von Oviedo. The capitals of the columns are decorated with figurative scenes, the fighter plates have braided ribbons .

During the restoration in 2013/14, the original colors were determined and the figures were restored accordingly. The cream-colored white was intended to simulate ivory work. The irides and pupils of the apostle figures were inlaid sapphires , which were restored during the restoration. The figures of the apostles are seen in the tradition of the Pórtico de la Gloria of the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela and the work of the master Mateo due to the posture and folds of the robes . The theory that was held at times that Mateo created it himself is no longer supported today. The figures of the apostles are among the most outstanding examples of Spanish and Western European architectural sculptures from the Romanesque period. On the west wall are the remains of a crucifixion group . The heads of the main characters made as sculptures have been preserved. The rest of the work was a fresco that did not survive the 1934 bomb attack. The heads scattered across the empty wall seem incoherent today.

The cathedral treasure with the relics is exhibited in the choir of the Michaelskapelle, which is separated from the nave by a grid .

  • Apostles Thomas and Bartholomew

  • Apostles Peter and Paul

  • capital

Holy Shrine ( Arca Santa )

Holy shrine

The Holy Shrine is a shrine which comes after the legend of Jerusalem and Alexandria to Toledo to be reached and from there to Oviedo. It contains numerous relics such as the handkerchief of Oviedo ( Santo Sudario de Oviedo ), thorns from Christ's crown of thorns and splinters of the cross . The Arca Santa has served as the chapel's altar since it was re-consecrated in 1942 .

Angel Cross ( Cruz de los Ángeles )

Angel cross

The angel cross is a Greek cross , the arms of which widen outwards. The cross originally had a wooden core made of wild cherry , which was clad with sheet gold and set on the front with 48 gemstones such as sapphire , amethyst , ruby , agate and opal and five stones on the back, some of which date from Roman times . A Roman cameo depicting a young woman is only preserved today as a copy. The name Angel Cross goes back to a legend according to which the goldsmiths who made the cross were angels, according to a chronicle from the 12th century.

An inscription on the back names the year 846 of the Spanish era , which corresponds to the year 808 of our calendar, in which Alfonso II donated the cross. The inscription also contains the threat that anyone who was to remove the cross from the place designated by the king should be struck by the divine lightning strike. The inscription ends with the words: “Under this sign the pious is protected. Under this sign the enemy will be defeated ”. This formula is interpreted as an allusion to the emperor Constantine the Great , who defeated his pagan opponent Maxentius in 312 under the sign of the cross . It can also be seen in connection with the Moorish conquest of Spain and the Christian Reconquista .

Victory Cross ( Cruz de la Victoria )

Victory cross

The victory cross was from Alfons III. Commissioned and given to Oviedo Cathedral in 908, one hundred years after Alfonso II founded the Angel's Cross. Here, too, the year of origin, the threat of a divine lightning strike in the event of theft and the protection and victory formula are recorded in an inscription soldered to the back. The victory cross is a Latin cross with an oak core and sheet gold cladding, the arms of which each end in three semicircles, to which in turn three small discs set with precious stones are attached. At the intersection of the two arms of the cross there is a cavity that was intended to house a relic. The victory cross is twice as high and three times as heavy as the angel's cross and is even more richly decorated with precious stones, pearls, enamel plates and pearled gold wire. Its name goes back to the belief that its wooden core was the cross with which the Christian Reconquista won their first victory over the Moors at the Battle of Covadonga under their leader Pelayo . That is why it is also known as the Cruz de Pelayo (Pelayo Cross).

Agate Shrine ( Caja de la Ágatas )

Agate shrine

The agate shrine is a 42 cm long and 27 cm wide cedar cassette clad with gold and silver sheet . It has 99 recesses, which are laid out with agate slices. 225 precious or semi-precious stones and corals decorate the case. On the underside there is an inscription with similar wording as on the two crosses and the year 910 as the date of origin.

literature

  • Achim Arbeiter , Sabine Noack-Haley: Hispania antiqua. Christian monuments of the early Middle Ages from the 8th to the 11th centuries . Verlag Philipp von Zabern , Mainz 1999, ISBN 3-8053-2312-3 , pp. 110-114, 132-135, 180-183, 185-187.
  • Hevia Blanco: The Apostolate of the Holy Chamber . Ediciones Trea, o. O. 2017.
  • Jaime Cobreros: Guía del Prerrománico en España . Madrid 2006, ISBN 84-9776-215-0 , pp. 93-95.
  • Jacques Fontaine: L'Art Préroman Hispanique . Volume 1, 2nd edition, Éditions Zodiaque, Abbaye de la Pierre-Qui-Vire 1973.
  • Dietrich Höllhuber, Werner Schäfke : The Spanish Way of St. James. History and art on the way to Santiago de Compostela . DuMont, Cologne 1999, ISBN 3-7701-4862-2 .
  • Lorenzo Arias Páramo: Guía del Arte Prerrománico Asturiano . 2nd edition, Gijón 1999, ISBN 84-95178-20-6 , pp. 34-35, 40-43, 93-98.
  • Eduardo Carrero Santamaría: El conjunto catedralicio de Oviedo durante la Edad Media . Real Instituto de Estudios Asturianos, Oviedo 2003, ISBN 84-89645-68-X .
  • Javier González Santos: Oviedo Cathedral. Brief Guide . Edilesa, León 2005, ISBN 84-8012-509-8 .
  • Werner Schäfke: Northwest Spain. Landscape, history and art on the way to Santiago de Compostela . DuMont, Cologne 1987, ISBN 3-7701-1589-9 .
  • César García de Castro Valdés: Cripta de San Leocadia. Arte Prerrománico de Asturias . Ediciones Nobel, Oviedo 2004, ISBN 84-8459-181-6 .

Web links

Commons : Cámara Santa  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Monuments of Oviedo and the Kingdom of the Asturias Unesco World Heritage List
  2. ↑ Santos: Oviedo Cathedral , p. 43.
  3. ^ Santos: Oviedo Cathedral , p. 53.
  4. ^ Blanco: The Apostolate , p. 8.
  5. ↑ Höllhuber: The Spanish Way of St. James , p. 248; Schäfke: Northwest Spain , p. 200.
  6. ↑ Agate Shrine

Coordinates: 43 ° 21 '44 "  N , 5 ° 50' 34.4"  W.