LA GIROLA

At the beginning of the XVII century, in the midst of the Counter-Reformation, the members of the chapter were aware that, since Oviedo Cathedral was an important pilgrimage temple, the topography of the Gothic building did not favor the circulation of the faithful who came to visit the relics. That is why it was thought to provide the Cathedral with an ambulatory, or ambulatory, through which pilgrims would leave the temple after visiting the Holy Chamber.

After acquiring a part of the site from the neighboring monastery of San Vicente, the works took place between 1621 and 1633 and were carried out by Juan de Naveda (1590-1638).

The ambulatory is divided into five chapels, the central one being the widest and deepest, separated by buttresses decorated in the manner of Tuscan pilasters. Each one of the chapels was dedicated to two apostles, thus recovering the cult that they had received in the primitive pre-Romanesque temple, of which we know there were six altars dedicated to a couple of apostles each. This space was also used, within the Counter-Reformation current, to place niche altarpieces dedicated to the main saints and martyrs whose relics were kept in the Holy Chamber. Finally, several saints who enjoyed great popular devotion were chosen to complete this devotional set.

The altarpieces

In this way, in the chapels between the buttresses we find, starting from the south, the Chapel of San Pablo (1754 -1758), whose altarpiece is presided over by a canvas by Francisco Martínez Bustamante (1680 - 1745) in which the conversion is represented. of the saint following a painting by Guido Reni.

Next is the Chapel of Transfixion (1753 -1754), where the scene of the Weeping over the dead Christ is represented in a relief from the altarpiece donated to the Cathedral by Canon Tirso de Avilés in 1588, which appears portrayed at the bottom .

In the center is the chapel dedicated to San Pedro (1754-1758), by José Bernardo de la Meana (1715-1790).

To its left is the altarpiece of San Andrés (1758-1762) and, finally, that of San Bartolomé (1758-1762), both by José Bernardo de la Meana.

In the buttresses a total of eighteen niches have been opened in which are located the representations of the saints and martyrs whose relics the Cathedral preserves, holy Fathers of the Church, founders of religious orders and prophets. Among others we mention here Santa Eulalia (1743), by Alejandro Carnicero (1693-1756); Saint Leocadia, Saint Jerome, Saint Emeterio, Saint Lucrecia, Jeremías and Isaías, all of them by José Bernardo de la Meana.

The presence of San Blas, of which the neighboring monastery of San Pelayo preserves a relic, justifies his presence here as a protector against diseases, while San Antonio Abad enjoyed great devotion at the time for being the protector of the animals. Both are the work of José Bernardo de la Meana.

All this sculptural display made up of altarpieces and sculptures constituted the main work of José Bernardo de la Meana from Oviedo and his workshop, in which his son Francisco Javier Meana (1757 – post. 1815) worked. Most of the commissions received by this sculptor throughout his life were for the Oviedo Cathedral.

EL SALVADOR

At the entrance to the ambulatory, from the south nave, is the polychrome stone sculpture of El Salvador, head of the cathedral. It is a transitional image between the Romanesque and the Gothic, dating to the XIV century, as it is believed that it was Bishop Gutierre de Toledo who donated it to the cathedral. At that time it was in the cloister, attached to the bishop's funerary chapel.

In the XVII century it was moved to the place it occupies today, where it is venerated by pilgrims who pass through Oviedo on their way to Santiago.

"Who goes to Santiago and not to El Salvador,

visit the servant and forget the Lord"

Before this image, as a pilgrim, Pope Saint John Paul II prayed on August 20, 1989 during his visit to Asturias.

This sculpture is larger than life. It shows Christ in an attitude of blessing, with the orb in his hand, as a sign of his divine nature. It is an image of marked frontality and rigid hieraticism, as befits the time; dressed in blue – a symbol of divinity-, red – alluding to his blood shed for the sins of humanity – and gold, for his status as king of the Universe.

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