The Chapel of Saint Teresa in the Mosque-Cathedral of Cordoba (Spain)
Chapel of Saint Teresa
Saint Martin Chapel and Saint Andrew Chapel occupied the space occupied by Chapel
of Saint Teresa and Main Sacristy in the XV Century. Saint Martin Chapel was foundered by Don Arias de Castro’s sons in January 1330. For being used as his fathers burying chapel; Don Arias de Castro was Monarch Ferdinand IV´s ambassador. Saint Andrew Chapel, through which you get the Main Sacristy, was erected by the Dean of the Cathedral, Don Gil Pérez.
After its belonging to De Castro Family, Saint Martin Chapel, together with Saint Martin Chapel was owned by the
Cabildo Catedralicio (Government of the Church), and its room was given to Cardinal Salazar in order to build Saint Teresa Chapel and his future pantheon. The Cardinal, Bishop of Córdoba, was an important man in our city. In fact he was bishop between 1686 and 1706. He built the Hospital of Cardinal Salazar, nowadays the Phisolophy and Letters Faculty or the Saint Peter of Alcantara Church.
The Chapel of Saint Teresa was designed by architect Francisco Hurtado Izquierdo, main master of the Cathedral;
the work began in 1697. The master designed an octagonal space, covered by a vault, divided into eight parts, whose radius are decorated with floral elements. Above this a wide tambor is developed with different windows crowned by triangular split up fronton. Its whiteness all together with fine baroque gypsum, gives a special personality, and heterogeneity to the ancient Mosque, nowadays Cathedral.
Once you get into you find the Sepulcher of Cardinal Salazar. Projected by Francisco Hurtado Izquierdo and executed in 1709 and 1710 by sculpters Teodosio Sánchez De Rueda, Domingo Lernico and Juan Prieto. It was thought that he was inspired by Gian
Lorenzo Bernini but its quality was the same. He employed black marble for the architecture, white marble for the sculptures where the praying Cardinal spots out.
The Altarpiece of Saint Teresa Chapel was made by Teodosio Sánchez de Rueda, however now is substituted by another one, neoclassical. It is made with stucco it is on the tabernacle decorated with the Piety, made in bronze, by italian sculpter Virgiglio Castelli. On this one you can see Saint Teresa; it is made with polychromatic wood; andalusian sculptor by José de Mora Expósito in 1705. With its elegant / smart position the Saint receives to the Holy Spirit, turned into a dove as Doctor of the Church. Saint Augustine, Saint Peter Nolasco and Saint Francis of
Assisi are made by José de Mora Expósito too.
Acisclo Antonio Palomino decorated the room with three pictures, very big. The "Appearance of Saint Raphael Archangel to Father Roelas", “Saint Acisclus and Saint Victory”, the “Conquest of Cordoba by Ferdinand III the Saint”; they were painted towards 1713. The other two pictures, on the doors of the crypt and treasure, represent the “Immaculate Conception” and “Assumption of Virgin Mary”, both framed by Teodosio Sánchez de Rueda.
In the middle of the chapel there is the Custody that was performed by Enrique de Arfe, it’s a jewel of the Cathedral. Fused and sculptured in silver between 1514 and 1518, it represented a new jewelry conception in our country silver work. It’s 2,62m tall
and 40cm of them corresponds to restorations and enlargement in the XVI and XVIII Centuries, where as its width is 0'92 meters at the base.
Both entrances, on the right and on the left, drive us to the crypt and treasure room respectively. The crypt was built for burying the Cardinal’s family, it was covered by gypsum decorated vault and its walls and its walls covered with. Juan Pompeyo pictures: “Apparition of the Virgin to Ferdinand III the Saint”, “Saint Zoilus Marthyr” and “Saint Teresa’s Transverberation”. The Treasure, except the Custody of Arfe, it is situated into rectangular rooms. In the treasure there is Bishop Manrique’s Cross, Image of Our Lady by jeweler cordovan Damián De Castro, inspired by the original one Pedro Duque Cornejo’s.
Text: J.A.S.C.
Traslated by Sara Moretti