| Cathedral of St. Mary the Crowned | |
|---|---|
 Western façade of the Cathedral of St. Mary the Crowned. | |
 | |
| 36°08′23″N 5°21′13″W / 36.139672°N 5.35366°W | |
| Location | 215 Main Street |
| Country |  Gibraltar |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic |
| Website | Gib Cathedral |
| History | |
| Former name(s) | Iglesia de Santa Maria la Coronada y San Bernado |
| Status | Cathedral |
| Founded | 20 August 1462 |
| Founder(s) | Catholic Monarchs |
| Dedication | St. Mary the Crowned |
| Dedicated | 20 August 1462 |
| Consecrated | 20 August 1462 |
| Past bishop(s) | See list of Roman Catholic Bishops |
| Associated people | Fr. Juan Romero de Figueroa |
| Architecture | |
| Functional status | Active |
| Architect(s) | Various |
| Architectural type | Mixed |
| Style | Mixed |
| Completed | 1931 |
| Specifications | |
| Number of domes | 1 |
| Clergy | |
| Bishop(s) | Mons. Carmelo Zammit |
| Priest(s) | Fr. Paul Bear |
The Cathedral of Saint Mary the Crowned (Spanish: Catedral de Santa María la Coronada) is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Gibraltar. It is the primary centre of Catholic worship in the Diocese of Gibraltar.
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Transcription
(soft piano music) Man: We're on the second of Or San Michlele, and we're looking at one of the most famous sculptures that used to be on one of the exterior niches. It has been brought inside to keep it safe. This is Nanni di Banco's, The Four Crowned Mytryrs. These are four ancient Roman sculptures, who are asked by the Roman Emperor, Diocletian, to create a sculpture of a pagan God. They refused, and were put to death. The moment that Nanni di Banco has chosen to get picked is the moment when their coming to the realization that this will be their fate. Lady: This is commission by the stone masons skilled. Each skilled had a niche on the outside of the Or San Michlele, and chose a sculpture to represent their patron saints. This is unusual in that we have four figures instead of a single figure in the niche. The figures who are human in their interactions. Man: Almost as if there's a negation going on between them, and as if their thinking deeply about the consequences of the decision that their in the process of making. Then it is a deeply human experience. Lady: Instead of having these single thoughtful figures like the Donatello Saint Mark. We have figures who are looking at each other gesturing. Man: Look at the vividness of the interaction. As the man on the right is speaking, his mouth is open. There's that wonderful dark shadow `` in that really deep carving, and all of them are paying attention. Not necessarily focused on him visually, we can see them listen in the most engaged way. This is an extraordinary expression of what stone can do. And this was of course for the stone masons themselves. This guild is showing the nobility of their profession that stone can get to the heart of what it means to be human, and in a noble way to live up to ones belief. Lady: Being a sculpture in the early 15th century in Florence, looking back at the ancient Greek and Roman sculptures, it's in sculpture that we see the revival to take place. Artist like Donatello and Nanni di Banco, and then later on soon Masacio. We'll see that looking back to ancient Greek and Roman culture. This looks so ancient Roman to me. The faces look like figures from ancient Roman Republican statues. Their wearing these Roman togas. Several of them stand in contrapposto epically, this one second from the left, where we can really see his knee pressing through the drapery and a sense of his hips and really a body. Man: There's kind of a empathy that I feel for these figures that is intensified, because it is these four men. Think about Florence in the 15th century, which was really thinking about its sense of community. They took decisions together. Whether or not they were going to act we ask to the [Milanese 02:48] for example. This notion of doing things together, and doing things for the group was absolutely central to the specific nature of this city. Lady: With Donatello Saint Mark, you have the dignity of the individual which was a very important part of humanism. Here you have the importance of the relationships. The importance of the group in Nanni di Bancos Four Crowned Saints. (soft piano music)
History
15th century
The original building of the current cathedral was built during the Spanish period. Just after the reconquest of the city to the Moors, the main mosque was decreed to be stripped of its Islamic past[1] and consecrated as the parish church (named Santa Maria la Coronada y San Bernardo[2]). However, under the rule of the Catholic Monarchs, the old building was demolished and a new church was erected, in Gothic style. The cathedral's small courtyard is the remnant of the larger Moorish court of the mosque. The Catholic Monarchs' coat of arms was placed in the courtyard where it can still be seen today. The cathedral extended to the opposite side of what is now Main Street.[1]
18th to 20th centuries
The church of St. Mary the Crowned was the only Catholic church or institution that was not ransacked by the troops that took over the city in 1704. It was successfully protected by its staunch pastor, Juan Romero, his curate, and his bell-ringer.[3] Thus, it is the only place where Catholic worship has taken place uninterruptedly from the definite Christian re-conquest of the town.
Due to the building being severely damaged during the 1779–1783 Great Siege, in 1790 the then governor of Gibraltar, Sir Robert Boyd, offered to rebuild the cathedral in return for part of the land on which the building originally stood in order to re-route Main Street.[1] The route was re-modelled in 1801 so that Main Street could be straighter. (This drastic change has also been credited to the governor Charles O'Hara.[4]) The reconstruction took place in 1810 and the opportunity was also taken to widen Main Street. The clock tower was added in 1820 and in 1931 restoration work was carried out on the cathedral and the current west façade erected to replace the poorer one built in 1810.[1]
In 1881 the Church of St Mary's was the site of nearly fifty arrests as the governor of Gibraltar sent police and reassigned soldiers to support Bishop Canilla as he attempted to enter his own church. A self-appointed "Committee of Elders" had said that they intended to take possession of the church and install their own "chief priest" against the will of the governor and the Catholic church. Canilla was sent to his church on 2 March 1881 with police protection to install him in his church. When the new force came to the church they found it was occupied by 200 men and the police had to make four dozen arrests to establish order.[5]
Not only did Canilla now have possession of his church but he was also the owner as the governor arranged for the title deeds to be given to the new titular Bishop.[5]
Until the 19th century, anyone who died in Gibraltar had the right to be buried under the cathedral floor. Bishops are buried in a crypt beneath the statue of Our Lady of Europe.[1]
In 1943, Władysław Sikorski's coffin lay in state here, after his plane crashed into the sea just off Gibraltar.
See also
- San Roque, Cádiz (The original statue of St Mary was moved there in 1704, following the British takeover of Gibraltar)
Gallery
-
![The exterior of the Cathedral of St. Mary the Crowned. The statue of the soldier outside the cathedral is a gift from the Corps of the Royal Engineers to commemorate the formation in Gibraltar of the Company of Soldier Artificers in 1772, which later became the Royal Engineers in 1856.[6]](/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/db/Cathedral_of_St_Mary_the_Crowned.JPG/90px-Cathedral_of_St_Mary_the_Crowned.JPG)
The exterior of the Cathedral of St. Mary the Crowned. The statue of the soldier outside the cathedral is a gift from the Corps of the Royal Engineers to commemorate the formation in Gibraltar of the Company of Soldier Artificers in 1772, which later became the Royal Engineers in 1856.[6] -
Old photograph of Main Street showing part of the cathedral's façade to the left. Picture from the book Gibraltar - John L. Stoddard's Lectures (1912), by John L. Stoddard. It shows the old façade built in 1810. -
Entrance to the cathedral's courtyard. -
View of the cathedral's altar. -
Stained-glass window in the cathedral.
References
- ^ a b c d e History of the Cathedral of St Mary the Crowned. Archived 2013-01-07 at archive.today
- ^ "A Short History of the Diocese of Gibraltar". Archived from the original on 3 January 2009.
- ^ Jackson, William (1990). The Rock of the Gibraltarians. A History of Gibraltar (2nd ed.). Grendon, Northamptonshire, UK: Gibraltar Books. pp. 99–101. ISBN 0-948466-14-6.
- ^ Benady, Tito (1996). The streets of Gibraltar : a short history. Grendon: Gibraltar Books. pp. 11–17. ISBN 0948466375.
- ^ a b George Hills (1974). Rock of Contention. A History of Gibraltar. London: Robert Hale. pp. 392–396. ISBN 0-7091-4352-4.
- ^ 300 Years of British Gibraltar 1704-2004 by Peter Bond
External links
- Cathedral information and photos of interior (from the Diocese of Gibraltar)
- Illustrated article
This page was last edited on 6 March 2024, at 10:02