Church of San Antón

About

The Church of San Antón is a Catholic church located in the Old Town neighbourhood of Bilbao, Spain. It is dedicated to Anthony the Great, known as San Antón in Spanish. It is featured, along with the San Antón Bridge, in the city's coat of arms. The estuary of Bilbao flows next to it.

Saint Anthony's church is an example of the Gothic style of church architecture, popular in the 15th and 16th centuries. Despite reconstruction it remains possible to observe some Gothic features as the rib vaults and the pointed arches.

The church was built at the end of the 15th century on a plot where there had been a warehouse for three hundred years. It is considered an asset of cultural interest since 17 July 1984, in the category "National Historic-Artistic Monument".

In 1300 Diego López de Haro gave the municipal charter. The river and the plot were incorporated to the new village called Bilbao. Some claim that in 1334 Alfonso XI of Castile ordered to build a fortress and wall that were used like a dike against the flood. A wall was discovered in 2002 by an archaeological excavation but the claim is still inconclusive.

Some time later this two buildings were replaced by one church dedicated to Saint Anthony the Great. The church was consecrated in 1433, at that point the church had only the single nave with a rectangular floor and a vaulted roof. Now. the old foundations of that church can be seen near the old wall of Bilbao [ citation needed ].

In 1478, a new construction project began to enlarge the church, as the congregation was growing. This enlargement, in Gothic style, was finished in the first part of the 16th century.

Throughout history this church has suffered damage and was closed twice. The main source of damage was flooding from the Nervión river. The last flood was in 1983 and resulted in furniture, drag doors and railings inside the church being destroyed.

The church has also suffered damage through bombing and fire during war, especially during the Carlist war. During this war, the church was forced to close as it was used for military logistics [ citation needed ]. The church was forced to close for a second time in 1881, owing to the tumbledown state of the church. Restoration work undertaken by Sabino Goikoetxea changed much of the original design of the church.

Main article: Gothic Architecture Gothic art was created in France during the 13th century, but it wasn't until the 14th century when it was introduced in Biscay, due to the region's poverty. In the 14th century the population and the economy grew, carrying Gothic art and architecture into Biscay. Throughout Spain, Gothic architecture became common half century later than in France. As the French influence entered by Navarre, it avoided the Basque Country, meaning that the Gothic style was common in Biscay even later than much of Spain. Even then, there are few large Gothic projects in the region, with Santiago's cathedral in Bilbao or Andra Mari of Lekeitio as notable exceptions.

Most of the buildings in the Gothic style were begun in the 14th century, but only Santiago's cathedral was ended then. The rest were consecrated between the 15th and 16th centuries.

Buildings in 'Biscay Gothic' lost the spirit of the International Gothic : they were not monumental buildings with large windows creating striking visual displays, but smaller buildings, becoming a characteristic of the local Gothic style.

Andra Mari of Guernica, Getxo, Orduña, Gueñes, Erandio, Galdakao, Portugalete and Lekeitio, Santa Eufemia of Bermeo, Santiago's Cathedral, Basilica of Begoña, San Vicente and San Anton of Bilbao and San Severino of Balmaseda have to be named as important buildings of the Gothic of Biscay.

The Church of San Antón contains three chapels:

This is the first and widest chapels that the church. Built in 1530 this chapel is an example of the late Gothic style which can be seen in other nearby construction like Begoña, La encarnación, San Vicente of Abando and San Pedro of Deusto. There is a large ogival arch at the entrance of the chapel. This arch is closed by a grille that was forged in Bilbao. At the top of the entrance the coat of arms of the chapel's founders (the Lezama-Leguizamón family) are displayed. Historically [ when? ], was a passageway that linked this chapel and Lezama-Leguizamón family's tower house. There is a stained glass window located in the front wall.

The chapel held two altarpieces. One of the altarpieces is dedicated to Santa Ana and the other is dedicated to Virgen de la Consolación. At present the chapel contains an altar that contains a wood carved sculpture of Inmaculada and some paintings.

There is also a silver lamp with the following inscription carved on it: "Esta lámpara dieron a su capilla de Santa Ana, Doña María de Leguizamón y Don Domingo de Isasi-Leguizamón. 1621".

The Chapel of Piety is smaller than the Chapel of Provost but bigger than the Chapel of San Roque. It possesses similar attributes of those present in the Chapel of Provost, having a Gothic structure in the entrance arch, rib vault on the ceilings and stained glass windows.

The grille closing this chapel is older than the grille closing the Chapel of Provost. The top part of this grille includes the coat of arms of the Recalde family along with details of the Passion.

The intermediate frieze contains the following inscription written in Latin : "O Mater Dei, memento mei Iesu". It could be translated as "Oh mother of god, remember us before Jesus".

In 1919 the Chapel of Provost and the Chapel of Piety were united with a Gothic arch to enlarge the communion rail.