Church of Santa María, Tauste
TYPE OF ASSET: Property
CATEGORY: Religious
ARCHITECTURAL STYLE: Mudejar
CONSTRUCTION DATE: 13th – 14th century
The church originally had a single nave divided into three bays flanked by chapels set between the wall buttresses. The east end held an apse that was semicircular on the inside and five-sided on the exterior. Two small octagonal towers were erected at the west end, and the bell tower, also octagonal in shape, is set between them, popularly known as “la bien plantá”.
The tower of the church of Santa María is a striking example of Aragonese architecture of Islamic origin, not only representing the main architectural feature and the most emblematic symbol of the town, but also a landmark for the entire population and surrounding area. There is also another Mudejar tower in this town, the tower of San Antón, which was constructed later.
It has an octagonal floorplan and, according to Gonzalo M. Borrás, its structure can be classified as Almohad minaret style, in which an interior tower sits within an exterior tower, with a stairway in between them. The interior tower is divided into rooms on four levels covered by domical vaults with eight sides.
The entrance is raised to a height of six meters, level with the choir, which leads to the first room (underneath this there was a circular pit, which was filled in during the tower restoration in the 1980s).
It is located at the west end of the church of Santa María. However, they are actually two separate buildings and, according to research by Jaime Carbonel,
the tower already existed when the church was built and may have been a free- standing structure originally.
The decoration on the exterior of the tower is divided into several sections, but this representation does not coincide with the interior structure. The decoration begins partway up the tower, each decorative panel repeating in the same manner on all eight sides, framed by strips of angled bricks. Seen from bottom to top, the panels contain the following motifs: intertwined mixtilinear arches, four-part interlacing motifs forming octagons, inscriptions, a strip of mixtilinear diamond shapes and intertwining round arches. The tower is finished with embrasures and merlons on the parapet and topped by a turret, reaching a total height of 47 meters.
Gonzalo M. Borrás dated the construction of the church and tower to around 1300, which is the date most widely accepted by historians. However, other research from recent years proposes that the tower of Santa María could have been the minaret (repurposed as a bell tower) on an 11th-century mosque that was replaced by the Mudejar church we now see in the 13th century.
In 2020, a large necropolis of Islamic origin was discovered in the town. In the Islamic era, Tauste probably had a large population with enough inhabitants to have had a mosque and minaret.
Interventions
From 1982 to 1986, the restoration of the tower was undertaken by the Ministry of Culture’s Directorate General of Fine Arts. The restoration work consisted in reconstructing the original roof system and replacing lost decorative motifs. It was managed by the architect J. Manuel Pérez Latorre.
From 1992 to 1994, the Government of Aragon and the Tauste City Council concluded a collaboration agreement for the restoration of the exterior wall at the back of the church and the adaptation of the main façade.
In 2004, some minor work and a geotechnical study of the tower was done.
Projects and interventions
Declarations
The church of Santa María de Tauste was declared an Asset of Cultural Interest under the Ministry of Public Instruction and Fine Arts Decree of June 3, 1931 published in the Gazette on June 4, 1931.
The Official Gazette of Aragon dated November 14, 2001 published the Department of Culture and Tourism Order of October 15, 2001, whereby the original declaration of the church of Santa María in Tauste (Zaragoza) is supplemented pursuant to Transitional Provision One of Aragonese Cultural Heritage Act 3/1999, of March 10.
Bibliography
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CASTILLO MONTOLAR, MARGARITA. (COORD.). Tesoros artísticos de la villa de Tauste, Parroquia de Santa María de Tauste, 2003.
CHIRIBAY CALVO, RAFAEL. La serie “Reparación de Templos” del Archivo Diocesano de Zaragoza (1a parte), Aragonia Sacra. 1996 , no XI, p. 185-220.
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MIÑANA RODRIGO, MARÍA LUISA; SARRIÁ ABADÍA, FERNANDO. El retablo mayor de la iglesia parroquial de Santa María de Tauste, Suessetania. 1998 , no 17, p. 10-19.
MORTE GARCÍA, C. Y CASTILLO MONTOLAR, M. El retablo mayor renacentista de Tauste, Instituto Fernando el Católico, Zaragoza, 2012.
ROMERO SANTAMARÍA, ALFREDO. (COORD.). Joyas de un patrimonio: Restauraciones de arte mueble en la provincia de Zaragoza, 1995-1999, Diputación Provincial de Zaragoza, Zaragoza, 1999.
VALERO SUÁREZ, JOSÉ MARÍA. (DIR.). Joyas de un patrimonio IV: Restauraciones de la Diputación Provincial de Zaragoza (2003-2011), Diputación de Zaragoza, Zaragoza, 2011.
VV.AA. Cinco Villas, Colección RUTASCAI por Aragón no 44, Zaragoza, 2006.
VV.AA. Arte Mudéjar Aragonés. Patrimonio De La Humanidad, Institución Fernando el Católico, Zaragoza, 2002.
VV.AA. Tierra mudéjar : El Mudéjar Aragonés, patrimonio mundial, Heraldo de Aragón, D.L. 2002.
VV.AA. El Patrimonio Artístico en la Comarca de las Cinco Villas, Zaragoza, 1998.
Appendixes
Church of Santa María
Plaza de Santa María
50660 Tauste (Zaragoza)
