Cathedral of Mérida — Wikipedia
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The Sainte-Marie-Majeure cathedral (full name in Spanish: SANTA METROPOLITAN CONCATEDAL CHURCH OF SANTA MARÍA LA GAJER ) is a Catholic cathedral located in the city of Mérida, in the autonomous community of Estremaduure in Spain. She shares the seat of the Archdiocese of Mérida-Badajoz with the cathedral of Badajoz.
Mérida was founded in Under the name of Augusta Emerita, on the orders of Emperor Augustus, in order to protect a passage and a bridge over the Guadiana river. The city has become one of the most important cities in the Roman Empire. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, during the Wisigothe period, the city kept a large part of its splendor, in particular under the domination of the bishops of Emerita , At WE It is century, when it was the capital of Hispania. The siege of the bishopric was the Sainte-Marie church of Jerusalem.
In 713, Mérida was conquered by the Muslim army under Moussa Ibn Noçaïr, but it was only the that the Metropolitan headquarters of the bishops was transferred to Saint-Jacques-de-Compostela by the Bulle of Pope Calixte II.
The city returned under the domination of Christians in 1230, when it was conquered by Alphonse IX de León. The city was then attached to the archdiocese of Saint-Jacques-de-Compostela. The construction of a chapel dedicated to the Virgin Mary began on the ruins of the Wisigothe cathedral.
In 1479, Don Alonso de Cárdenas (in) , master of the order of Santiago, ordered the enlargement of the chapel in order to make it the main church of the city. In 1620, a bubble of Pope Paul V created the title of bishop holding Mérida. The bishop was chosen from the priests of the order of Santiago, who chose the Santa María church as the seat of their bishopric.
The , Pope John Paul II established the archdiocèse of Mérida-Badajoz, by making the Saint-Jean-Baptiste church its metropolitan cathedral and in co-cathedral the Saint-Marie-Majeure church of Mérida.
The cathedral has been protected as a world heritage as a whole archaeological of Mérida since 1993 [ first ] .
Outside [ modifier | Modifier and code ]
The cathedral has three decorated doors. There Cover of Santa Maria , which opens onto the Plaza de España, consists of a body with a lintel on which a vaulted niche rests, framed by two columns with Corinthian capitals, housing a statue of Our Lady of the Guide . It was erected in 1766 on a preexisting of XVI It is century, and commanded by Francisco Moreno de Almaraz, conquistador of Peru.
The Door of forgiveness , on the east side of the church, faces the Plaza de Santa Maria. It has a neoclassical facade of XVIII It is century, work of Mateo Sánchez Villaviciosa. It consists of two parts: the bottom contains double pillars cut in ion style and the top, Corinthian fluted pillars framing the Blasons de Mérida and the order of Santiago. Above stands the square bell tower in which there is a music box from XVI It is A century with ten bells and a clock of great historical and artistic value, comparable only in Spain to the cathedral of Santo Domingo de La Calzada.
The North Gate has recently been reinforced after restoration work on the cathedral.
Interior [ modifier | Modifier and code ]
The cathedral is rectangular in shape and has in three naves (the power plant is twice as wide as the side), separated by square pillars, with a detached column on each side on which warhead arches are placed.
The master altar breaks down with two sections. Covered with a tierceron vault, the first is on a rectangular base and the second on a fan. On both sides of the presbytery, under the arcosoliums, one can admire the alabaster tombs of Don Diego de Vera Mendoza, the order of Santiago and his wife Doña Marina Gomez de Figueroa. The central apse is decorated with a large altarpiece of 1762, the two bodies of which surround a window of XIII It is century.
Among the Absidal Chapels, the Chapel of the Epistola, is the most remarkable. It is divided into two sections and both covered with ribbed vaults, decorated with the coats of arms of the Counts of the Roca.
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