Nuestra Señora de la Soterraña Spanish pronunciation: [ˈnwestɾa seˈɲoɾa ðe la soteˈraɲa] (Spanish for Our Lady of Soterraña) is a Gothic church and monastery located at Santa María la Real de Nieva, Province of Segovia, Spain. It was built between late 14th and early 15th centuries. In 1920, two of its elements, the facade and the cloister, were designated as national monuments. Its present designation is Bien de Interés Cultural.
History
In 1392, a wooden sculpture of Mary was discovered buried, probably hidden since the Muslim invasion, in a piece of open ground at the municipality of Nieva, where the village of Santa María de Nieva sits now. This fact was considered a miracle, and the Queen Catherine of Lancaster ordered the building of a sanctuary there and a village around it, to the worship of that Virgin's image, called Soterraña, an old Spanish word that means 'subterranean'. She did it against the opinions of the priest of Nieva, who wanted to bring the image to his village, and nobility of Segovia who preferred moving it to the town. However, the Queen acquired two papal bulls from Clement VII, in February 1393, to release the sanctuary from the Nieva priest's jurisdiction, and getting indulgences for the visitors on certain days.
Original church construction (1393-1399) Queen Catherine defrayed a large part of the building with Crown funds, many worshipers also contributed with their own money for the works, and these contributions were increased by two new bulls of Pope Benedict XII, in 1395, giving indulgences to those who gave money for the construction. The original church was rectangular, divided into three naves, and faced towards East as was traditional in that time. The every-day door was at the northern wall, and there was another door at western wall used just on holy days. On February 2, 1399, at Toledo, the Queen gave the custody of the image and the temple to the Dominican Order, that officially accepted it on September 7.
Enlargement (1414-1432)
In 1395, Santa María la Real de Nieva village had been founded by Royal order. The number of inhabitants grew quickly along with the number of visitor, and so the need for enlargement. Work started on January 23, 1414, and ended in 1432. These dates are known by three inscriptions located on church transept columns. In this extension of the church, another nave was added along with a transept and an apse, in parallel with the construction of the monastery attached. Queen Catherine of Lancaster sponsored these works until her death in 1418, and her son King John II of Castile continued the task. The next popes, Clement VII, Benedict XIII of Avignon, and Martin V, also contributed, giving indulgences to those who donated money for the building. Also, Martin V gave 500 florins of his own fund in 1425.
Events
On April 1, 1441, Queen Blanche I of Navarre was passing by the village on her way to a meeting with Prince Henry, his father King John II of Castile, and King John II of Aragon, when the Queen died, being buried at Nuetra Señora de la Soterraña church's main chapel. Her body stayed there, despite her last wish of resting in Ujué. With time, her location was forgotten until the tomb was discovered during restoration works in 1994. On October 28, 1473, King Henry IV called a meeting of the Courts of Castile at Our Lady of Soterraña monastery. After Ecclesiastical Confiscations of Mendizábal, monks left the monastery and its property was divided between the Segovia bishopric and the Santa María la Real de Nieva's Town Hall. In late 19th century, the monument suffered two fires. The first one, in 1899, affected the southern wing of the monastery and the second was at the high altar of the church. The monument has been restored a number of times, the façade in 1927 and the cloister in 1929, 1954, and 1976.
Church
The church was built following early 15th-century Gothic structure canons in Spain. Its decorative style has been described as archaic, because it is influenced by Romanesque art that was present in the Kingdom of Castile until the late 14th century. The main body of the church consists of three naves, the middle one being wider and higher than the side ones. This structure fits in with the original church. Its slate masonry walls have granite ashlar foundations and corners. However, inside the columns were built using bricks. In the middle there is a small cave where the Virgin's image was found.
Later, another nave, with a transept and one apse with two side chapels, was added. This new part was totally built with ashlar walls. There are mason's marks of 22 different workshops in its walls, that indicates the large number of workers used in the construction. When this part was finished, the old east wall in between was demolished to incorporate the new nave into the building. In the back central nave, there is a choir loft whose wall are lined with carved wooden chairs. The ceiling under the loft is decorated with a mudéjar wooden coffer. There is a mural painting of Saint Christopher carrying the child Jesus in the southern wing, discovered during a restoration in 1997.
Facade
The most notable of the church's elements is the facade in the northern wall, opening just under the transept, that is designated as bien de interés cultural itself. It was made in Gothic style with many reliefs and sculptures. It is divided into two bands with an ogival arch. In the upper part, there is a tympanum with an entrenched Christ image, in between two currently beheaded figures, probably the King and Queen that sponsored the building, and two angels. Above there are the Sun and the Moon representing the Universe, and angels on clouds. The tympanum is surrounded by five archivolts that depict, from outside to inside:
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