Tudela Cathedral

About

The Cathedral of Santa María la Mayor (Santa Maria the Major, or Santa Maria the Great) of Tudela (Navarre) is a late Romanesque church, inspired by Cistercian architecture, of large dimensions, which began to be built at the end of the 12th century during the reign of Sancho VI the Wise, passing the baton to his son Sancho VII the Strong, who in turn passed it to his nephew Theobald I. It used some of the foundations of the Great Mosque of Tudela (9th to 11th centuries). As the orientations of the two temples did not coincide, the mosque was demolished to build the new temple and only some of its foundations were reused. The current temple is located between the present-day Plaza Vieja and the streets Roso, Portal and Horno Higuera in the old town of Tudela. Initially it served as the collegiate church of Santa María, being elevated to a cathedral in the 18th century by Pope Pius VI when Tudela was separated from the diocese of the neighbouring city of Tarazona. The new dignity was granted at the request of Charles III. A century later, in 1884, it was declared a national monument.

The Cathedral of Tudela is a Cistercian temple built in ashlar according to the schemes of the Cathedral of Sigüenza, individualised with details taken from the nearby Abbey of Santa María de la Oliva and the Monastery of Santa María de Valbuena. It is of large dimensions, with approximately 3,380 m² (65 m × 52 m) not counting the cloister. It is a building with three naves of four bays, the central one being wider, with a transept of five bays, and a quintuple chevet with a deep central semicircular apse presided over by a large 15th-century altarpiece, painted by Pedro Díaz de Oviedo. It has three doorways: the Door of Santa María (to the north), the Door of the Last Judgement (to the west) and the Door of the Virgin (to the south).

Its chapels and altarpieces are numerous, among which stand out the Romanesque stone image of the White Virgin, from the 12th century, and the Gothic painted altarpieces of Saint Catherine and Our Lady of Hope, both from the 15th century. In the latter chapel is the magnificent Gothic tomb of the Chancellor Villaespesa. Also worth highlighting is the Baroque chapel of Saint Anne, patron saint of the city, represented in a Gothic carving, and the magnificent Renaissance choir stalls carved in the 16th century by Esteban de Obray. The temple is topped by a late Romanesque tower on one side of the Door of the Last Judgement, and another large Renaissance brick tower next to the Chapel of Saint Anne. The Romanesque cloister, from the late 12th century, is located to the south of the temple and has double columns and historiated capitals: it forms a sculptural ensemble of great richness.

The cathedral began to be built near the original parish church and collegiate church of Santa María la Blanca, a temple, perhaps Mozarabic, which apparently occupied a space adjacent to the Great Mosque of Tudela. The construction of the cathedral began during the reign of Sancho VI the Wise, around 1168. It is known that in this year, the chapter of the church of Santa María acquired a large number of houses and shops adjoining the Great Mosque, formally initiating the construction of the present cathedral of Tudela. There is also mention of the donation of other houses for the construction of the new cloister of Santa María.

By 1188, the construction must have been sufficiently advanced to make use of what had already been built, as the dedication or consecration took place that year. The chevet and the transept belong to the first phase of construction. Afterwards, at the end of the 12th century, came the perimeter walls and the Door of the Last Judgement, prior to the French Gothic explosion and during the reign of Sancho VII the Strong. The construction continued for almost the entire 13th century, being completed during the reign of Theobald I the Troubadour. The doors of the transept were built in 1186 and the Door of the Last Judgement in 1200. The Romanesque cloister, one of the masterpieces of Navarrese Romanesque art, was built at the end of the 12th century, between 1180 and 1206. The consecration of the Main Altarpiece of the chevet took place on 11 June 1494, by Bishop Don Guillermo, vicar of the Bishop of Tarazona in Tudela. The choir was built in the 16th century.

The cathedral had a late Romanesque tower that was completed in 1228, serving as a bell tower. However, this tower is not the one that has survived to our day, as it collapsed in 1676. The New Tower was built at the end of the 17th century, between 1682 and 1697. It had a large spire that crowned the tower, but it was destroyed by a spectacular fire in 1747. The magnificent Baroque chapel of Saint Anne was built between 1712 and 1724, once the new tower of the cathedral was completed. The existing space was enlarged to create a chapel of greater sumptuousness.

At the end of the 19th century, after the chapter obtained the declaration as a national monument (6 December 1884), proposed by the Real Academia de la Historia, state funds were secured to undertake its restoration. Previously, the Comisión de Monumentos Históricos y Artísticos de Navarra assumed custody on 10 February 1885 and appointed Rafael Gaztelu Murga, Juan Iturralde y Suit and Fernández as members.

The cathedral was significantly restored in the early 21st century and was reopened on 16 July 2006.

There are three main doorways: the Door of the Last Judgement (west), the Door of Santa María (north) and the Portal Door or Door of the Virgin (south). All three doorways are Romanesque in style, although the western one presents a more refined and complex style in its carvings.

Portal Door or Door of the Virgin – South

Also known as the West Door, the Door of the Last Judgement of the Cathedral of Tudela is the main entrance.

It was the last of the three doorways to be opened, with its construction dated from the final years of the 12th century and the first decades of the 13th century, coinciding with the reign of Sancho VII "the Strong".

The Door of the Last Judgement blends the Romanesque style of its iconography with the Gothic of its structure and sculpture. Indeed, this work is considered one of the first manifestations of Gothic sculpture on the Iberian Peninsula.

It consists of a large splayed arch divided into 8 archivolts resting on an equal number of columns located on both sides of the wooden entrance door, making a total of 16 pillars supporting the arch. The 8 archivolts are decorated with 115 voussoirs and 8 keystones.

The Door of the Last Judgement takes its name from the scene represented by the carvings contained therein:

- The Last Judgement. The porch depicts the separation of the damned and the blessed following God's divine sentence. Thus, the left half (from the viewer's position) is reserved for the saved in Heaven, while on the right half the reprobates appear in Hell. "Avarice" and "lust" are the sins most frequently depicted in the Hell scenes of this period. The former seems to be related to the Jews who lived in the city and engaged in moneylending. A new piece of information discovered in 2015 concerns the Gamblers; until then these voussoirs were identified as "money changers" because it was assumed that what they held in their hands was an abacus, but upon identifying the board as that of a medieval game, its interpretation is debated. Other sins represented include homosexuality, lying and gluttony.

- In addition to this division into Heaven and Hell, the Door of the Last Judgement presents two other parts: the common elements and the Genesis. The common elements are those scenes in which figures appear that do not properly belong to Heaven or Hell scenes, but form an essential part of the Apocalypse narrative and, specifically, of the Last Judgement. Spatially, these scenes are located on the central axis of the porch, occupying the line of keystones, the corbels and the jambs, as well as the tympanum, although this element currently contains no image. As for the Genesis, these scenes are found in the capitals of the 16 columns that support the arch. They show images relating to various passages from the first book of the Bible: Genesis.

- A judgement without a judge : The tympanum of the Door of the Last Judgement currently bears no image. In fact, it is not known what may have once adorned it, although the remaining elements and the message conveyed by the Door, relating to the Day of the Last Judgement, indicate that the tympanum must originally have borne an image of Christ the Judge.

- A unique work in the world : The Door of the Last Judgement is a unique work in Western Christian art thanks to the treatment that the author of the porch gave to Hell, reserving half of its surface for scenes of the Underworld. In total, 50 voussoirs are dedicated to infernal punishments, two more than those reserved for the blessed in Heaven.

It is located in the north wall. It once faced the medieval cemetery adjoining the temple (it currently faces the Plaza Vieja). It is slightly pointed and has a tympanum, although its decoration has disappeared. It consists of three highly decorated archivolts, with friezes of various designs, resting on historiated capitals.