St. Bartholomew (Sóller)
St. Bartholomew is a Roman Catholic parish church in the Spanish municipality of Sóller in the northwest of the Mediterranean island of Mallorca .
Architecture and history
Previous buildings
The founder of the first church in Sóller was the provost of Tarragona , Ferrer de Sant Martí. He was one of the conquerors of Mallorca in 1229. It is recorded that in 1236 he transferred 25% of the tithe he had raised in Sóller to the parish. In 1248 Innocent IV designated the Virgin Mary and the Apostle Bartholomew as the patron saints of the church and placed the parish of Sóller under the care of the Apostolic See . In 1370 this first church had become dilapidated and threatened to collapse.
At the end of the 14th century the construction of a new church began, which was consecrated in 1492 by the auxiliary bishop of Mallorca, the Carmelite Joan de Déu . This church was lower than the current building and had its main facade in the area of the current side entrance in the southwest. Parts of this building have been preserved, such as a walled-in round arch and a notch-like window above it in the Romanesque style . Another window of this type can be found in the facade facing Joan-Baptista-Ensenyat Street, where the apse of the church was also located.
After looting by Turkish pirates on May 11, 1561 , it was decided to build a fortress around the church. A remnant of the wall dating back to the fortress has been preserved near the current side entrance to the church. At the same time, the church received a very large sacristy , which should also serve as a refuge in the event of attacks. A marble statue of the Virgin Mary in the church was also damaged during the pirate attack. Today it is on the Gregorian altar.
Construction of today's church
After the church became dilapidated again, the construction of a new church in baroque style began at the end of the 17th century . The walls of the fortress were partly used as the outer walls of the church. You can still see old loopholes on Joan-Baptista-Ensenyat-Straße. The main altar and six vaulted sections were created. The vaults were designed in the old form of the ribbed vault and not as the barrel vault that was common at the time . At the same time, the rosary chapel, crowned by a dome, was built on the west side of the church. The church was inaugurated on August 15, 1711 by Rafael Torrents , when construction was not yet completed. The first vault, immediately in front of the main altar, was completed on August 12, 1729. The keystone shows Bartholomew in a triumphant gesture over the devil tied to a chain.
The second vault was built soon. The keystone dates from 1730 and shows the patron saint of Sóller, Mother of God of the Good Year, holding a bouquet of orange branches. The third vault was built in the same year. The keystone was set on October 7th, 1730 and is decorated with the Sóller coat of arms. On the fourth vault, completed in 1731, there is a representation of St. Bartholomew. He is tied to a tree and is being beaten by two Moors . The representation on the fifth vault shows the glorious Mother of God and refers to the attack by Turkish pirates on Sóller on May 11, 1561. Three Moors are depicted under Mary's feet. The keystone of the sixth vault was set in 1733. On it is a depiction of Peter as Pope. The sculptor Guillem Ferrer created the keystones of the six vaults . The church builder was Lluc Mesquida .
The current external appearance of the church is determined by the newer facade, which was added from 1904 to 1912 according to plans by Gaudí's student Joan Rubió . It is designed in late Neo-Gothic forms, with a large rose window in the center , also designed by Rubió , and is unmistakable due to the flat-angled row of arcades that spans its entire width, flanked by two slender pinnacle towers . The rose windows were made in Barcelona in the Amigó workshop and show Mary as Queen of the Martyrs . Below the rose window are two windows created by the same artists, which show the fathers of the Eastern and Western Churches.
The sculptor Joan Alcover created the angel figures in the atrium , which has three pointed arches . The coats of arms and relief representations also come from him.
Bishop Pere Joan Campins laid the foundation stone for the extension during this renovation on August 24, 1904 . The pastor of the church at that time was Sebastià Maimó. During the work, the remains of the former fortifications were torn down and a new facade was erected. At the same time, a seventh vault section was also built, which was completed in 1907. The keystone of the vault shows Mary in the snow.
In the course of the renovation, the forecourt was also redesigned. A wall made of natural stone was created that was adapted to the new facade and provided with an iron grille.
Steeple
A three-story bell tower already existed at the end of the 14th century. The current church tower was designed by Joan Sureda and is located in the southwest corner of the church. It has five floors and is crowned with a pyramid dome in the neo-Gothic style . The construction took place between 1895 and 1900.
Interior design
The main entrance to the church is on the north side. On the west side, at the location of the sixth side chapel, a side entrance leads into a garden originally used as a cemetery.
The organ on a grandstand above the main portal was created by Lluís Scherrer and given to the community in 1798 by Bishop Nadal. On the long sides of the nave there are seven side chapels on each side .
Baptistery
The baptistery is located to the right of the main entrance. In its current form, it was created during the renovation work at the beginning of the 20th century. Before that, the baptistery was in the area of the Sacred Heart Chapel, which was directly south of the church. The altarpiece consists of the former main portal of the church from the Baroque period. It was created in 1715 by Bartomeu Moyà and Jaume Pizà under the direction of Lluc Mesquida and today serves as a frame for a relief image made in 1912 by Damià Pastor from different colored wood , depicting the baptism of the Lord. The existing large golden frame was made by the sculptor Miquel Amer . Two pictures on the walls that were originally in the church's Saint Joseph Chapel show Saint Joseph.
Sacred Heart Chapel
The second chapel on the right is the Sacred Heart Chapel, which was consecrated on May 30, 1913. The altarpiece was designed by Joab Rubió and made in the Torra-Masó workshop in Barcelona . The center of the altar is occupied by a Sacred Heart statue created by Josep Llimona i Bruguera . Above is a dome supported by columns.
literature
- Josep Antoni Morell González, booklet accompanying the visit to the parish church of Saint Bartholomew of Sóller , 1996
Web links
Individual evidence
Coordinates: 39 ° 45 ′ 57.4 " N , 2 ° 42 ′ 55.9" E