Church of Santa Ana, Mainar

CURRENT PROTECTION STATUS:

TYPE OF ASSET: Property

CATEGORY: Religious

ARCHITECTURAL STYLE: Mudejar

CONSTRUCTION DATE: 16th century

Considered an example of late Mudejar religious architecture, it was built by order of archbishop Hernando de Aragon in 1544. At that time, an earlier church was modified, expanding the chapels of San Antonio and Santa Ana. The construction work progressed slowly, concluding with the expansion of the west end bay. From 1544 to 1550, the east end and the first bay of the nave were completed and, finally, in 1576 the west end bay and choir were built.

The construction material used for the church was brick, arranged into a single nave with a five-sided polygonal apse and pronounced buttresses. The minimal protruding brick decoration is limited to a strip of diamond shapes below the round-arched arcade that runs around the entire perimeter of the church. Esthetically, it looks like a large civilian compound.

The west end bay built during the 16th century has a more complex, modified arched passageway featuring double arches. It also has a lower row of three arches that allow light into the choir.

The tower is attached to the Gospel side at the west end. This is an octagonal- plan tower with solid attached buttresses. On the exterior, it is divided into six sections that narrow as they go up. The decoration also changes according to the height: the first section bears the least amount of decoration, just three strips of angled bricks arranged in a saw tooth or staggered fashion. The second section is more detailed, with protruding brick decoration, forming diamond combinations, double-frame openings, angled brick motifs and a ceramic frieze in the top section. In each panel of this second section there is a double frame filled with concentric diamond shapes. The buttresses are not decorated until they reach the upper part, where they have angled brick details.

The interior has a central buttress with a stairwell that winds around it, covered by brick vaults. The stairway was added in the second half of the 17th century.

Interventions

Restoration, 20th to 21st century

1990-1993 Catalog number: ES/AACAA – 001436 Restoration (Phase 1): administrative record. Mainar. Parish church of Santa Ana

1991-1993 Catalog number: ES/AACAA – 001436 Restoration (Phase 2): administrative record. Mainar. Parish church of Santa Ana

1993-1994 Catalog number: ES/AACAA – 001436 Restoration (Phase 3): administrative record. Mainar. Parish church of Santa Ana

2001-2004 Catalog number: ES/AACAA – 010668 Restoration (Phase 4): Projects. Mainar. Parish church of Santa Ana

2001-2004 Catalog number: ES/AACAA – 010669 Restoration (Phase 4): administrative record. Mainar. Parish church of Santa Ana

Projects and interventions

Projects and interventions, and the driving forces behind them, define the history of monumental buildings and how they are perceived.

Declarations

Declaration, 21st century

The Official Gazette of Aragon (BOA) from November 21, 2001 published Decree 274/2001, of November 6, by the Government of Aragon, declaring the Church of Santa María in Mainar (Zaragoza) an Asset of Cultural Interest, Monument category.

Bibliography

ESTEBAN LORENTE, Juan Francisco; Mañas Ballestín, Fabián. Inventario artístico del partido judicial de Daroca. Inventario inédito, Ministerio de Cultura, 1980 y 1999.

GALIAY, J. Arte mudéjar aragonés, Institución Fernando el Católico, Zaragoza, 2002. VV.AA. Tierra Mudéjar. El Mudéjar Aragonés, Patrimonio Mundial, Heraldo de Aragón, D.L. 2002

ROCHE, Carlos; Royo, Lorena. Actualización del Inventario de Patrimonio Cultural de la Comarca Campo de Daroca. Inventario inédito, Comarca Campo de Daroca, 2021.