THE HOLY CHAMBER

The Holy Chamber is the most emblematic building of the entire Cathedral Complex and also the oldest. In it a large number of relics are preserved, arrivals from the Holy Land, which have been venerated since the Middle Ages and for this reason the Cathedral of Oviedo has received the nickname of Sancta Ovetensis.

The Relics

In the year 614 the Persian king Chosroes II invaded Jerusalem and the Christians fled the city taking an ark with relics. On its journey, the ark passed through Egypt and North Africa, arriving in the city of Cartagena shortly after leaving the Holy Land. It was then transferred to Seville, during the time when San Isidoro was bishop of the city. After the death of the saint, the ark was moved to Toledo, the main city of the Visigothic Church, and it remained there until the year 711 when the Muslims invaded the Iberian Peninsula. It was then that the Christians moved the ark with the relics to the place they considered the safest: the north. According to tradition, it remained hidden on Mount Monsacro for eighty years, until King Alfonso II (791-842) decided to transfer it to Oviedo.

The first known list of relics was drawn up in the year 1075, on the occasion of the solemn opening of the chest on March 13 in the presence of several bishops, King Alfonso VI and members of the court. The most important relic of all those mentioned in this document is the Holy Shroud of the Lord, a linen cloth that covered the head of Christ after his death. The monarch was so impressed that he ordered the chest to be covered with sheets of embossed silver, becoming one of the main pieces of Spanish Romanesque goldsmithing. It is currently in the center of the dressing room of the Holy Chamber.

Over time, other relics were incorporated into the set, within their corresponding reliquaries. Thus arrived the Christ of Nicodemus (S. XII), who guards a lignum crucis under a rock crystal. A chest with the remains of San Julián and San Serrano at the end of the XVI century. Several silver and coral boxes (1626) and a ciborium with relics of the Virgin and Saint John the Baptist. In the XVII century, a reliquary-exhibitor was made for the sandal of Saint Peter. In 1742, a chest for the remains of San Eulogio and Santa Leocricia... until the XX century, when two crosses were added for another lignum crucis and the holy thorn, made by the Asturian goldsmith and priest Félix Granda Buylla (1868-1954). .

This set of pieces joined the pious donations of the Asturian monarchy. Alfonso II (791-842) had delivered to the church of Oviedo in the year 808 the oldest preserved jewel: the Cross of the Angels, symbol of the Cathedral and the City of Oviedo. One hundred years later, in 908, Alfonso III (866-910) did the same by donating the Victoria Cross, emblem of the Principality of Asturias. The treasure of the Asturian monarchy is completed with the Caja de las Agatas, a gift from Fruela II (910-924) and his wife Nunilo in the year 910.

The construction of the Holy Chamber

Traditionally it was believed that the Holy Chamber had been built during the reign of Alfonso II (791-842) as his palatine chapel and reliquary for the contents of the Holy Ark. Currently, archaeological evidence indicates that its construction corresponds to the reign of the last of the Asturian kings, Alfonso III (866-910), and that its first function was to serve as an episcopal chapel with a martyrdom and funerary function. It would be later when it became part of the Basilica of El Salvador and the Twelve Apostles with a double function: martyrdom burial and treasure.

The Holy Chamber was built attached to the Tower of San Miguel, conceived as a defensive element and which currently serves as access. It is a two-story building, without communication between them, which describe an elongated plan divided into a nave and a presbytery. The lower floor is the Crypt of Santa Leocadia and the upper floor is the chapel of San Miguel.

The crypt is accessed from the cloister. Covered with a barrel vault, it guarded the bodies of the martyrs Eulogio and Leocricia, who arrived in Oviedo in the year 884. In the center, three funerary lauds cover three tombs.

In the presbytery on the upper floor, and behind a grate, the treasure of the Sancta Ovetensis is kept. Originally it was a rectangular chapel, covered by a barrel vault at the head and a gabled wooden frame in the nave. At the end of the 12th century, the nave was reformed, providing it with a barrel vault with corbels that rest on pairs of columns. A magnificent apostleship was carved on the shafts of the columns, a jewel of Spanish Romanesque sculpture attributed to the Master of Oviedo, a contemporary artist of Master Mateo of the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela. The apostles of Oviedo are presented in pairs, in lively conversation, showing diversity of attitudes and characterization of faces and a great plasticity in the folds of their garments. Identified by their attributes or by the cartouches they carry, San Simón and San Judas, Santiago and San Juan and San Andrés and San Mateo are presented on the northern side; while on the southern side are the images of Santo Tomás and San Bartolomé; Saint Peter and Saint Paul and Saint James the Less and Saint Philip. The iconographic program displayed here presents the Apostles as "columns of the Church".

This set of sculptures was completed with a Calvary located above the door, of which only the heads of Christ, the Virgin and Saint John carved in stone remain; their bodies were painted on the wall and were lost during the blasting in 1934.

The exterior of the Holy Chamber can be seen from the pilgrims' cemetery, with access through the cloister. Attached to the wall of the crypt are the remains of the episcopal pantheon.

In October 1934, during the workers' revolution, the Holy Chamber was destroyed by a blast that also brought down a gang from the cloister. Immediately, the architect Alejandro Ferrant and the art historian Manuel Gómez Moreno, carried out work of clearing and recovering pieces, relics and jewels. The Holy Chamber was rebuilt between 1939 and 1942 by the architect Luis Menéndez Pidal and the sculptor Víctor Hevia.

On August 9, 1977, the Los Angeles and Victory crosses, along with the Agates Box, were stolen. After its recovery a short time later, the meticulous reconstruction work, carried out by the Oviedo goldsmith Carlos Álvarez, restored its lost splendor.

From the moment the Holy Chamber became the largest reliquary in Christianity at the beginning of the Middle Ages, it became a pole of attraction for all those who made pilgrimages to Santiago. The visit to the relics of the Sancta Ovetensis was, and still is, an obligatory stop. It is the starting point of the Camino Primitivo.

THE HOLY SHROUD

Tradition has it that when Chosroes II, king of the Persians, conquered Jerusalem in the year 614, the Christians fled the city taking an ark with relics. On their journey through the Mediterranean Sea, they made stops in Alexandria and Carthage, until they reached the Iberian Peninsula, where they disembarked in Cartago Nova, present-day Cartagena, between the years 614 and 617. From there, the ark was transferred to Seville, city in which San Isidoro was bishop. In the year 636 the relics traveled to Toledo, capital of the Visigothic kingdom and head of the Hispanic Church, where they remained for seventy-five years, until the Muslim invasion in the year 711. To prevent the ark and its contents from falling into the hands of the infidels, a last transfer was made to the north of the Peninsula. Tradition affirms that, for several decades, the ark was hidden on Mount Monsacro, near Oviedo, until the danger passed and the Kingdom of Asturias was consolidated; this occurred during the reign of Alfonso II (791-842).

The content of this chest was unknown until its solemn opening, on March 13, 1075, before King Alfonso VI and his court, passing through the city of Oviedo at that time on the occasion of his pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. . The act that was drawn up narrating the events of that day includes a long list of relics of Christ, the Virgin, the Apostles and numerous Saints. Among all of them, “de shroud Domini” stands out: the shroud of the Lord.

The Holy Shroud is the most important relic of all those preserved in the Holy Chamber, one of the largest and most important reliquaries of Christianity.

It is a rectangular canvas, made of linen, spun with a “Z” twist and in a taffeta-type texture, without dyes or side trims; measures 85.5 x 52.6 cm.

Among the scientific studies to which the Holy Shroud of Oviedo has been subjected, the following can be mentioned:

The palynological study, which investigates the remains of pollens present in it, has located three typical types of the Palestine region: Quercus (oaks and kermes oaks), Pistacia Palestina (mastic, cornicabra) and Tamarix (tamarind, tamarisk); the rest are pollens typical of the Mediterranean area.

In the study of the different substances that impregnate it, traces of silver paint (the result of having placed a paint can on the canvas), carmine (from one of the exhibitions to the faithful), gunpowder (deposited behind the explosion of the Holy Chamber during the Revolution of 1934), wax (from the candles that were lit nearby during liturgical acts), indeterminate white particles (of unknown origin, deposited on the linen after having been used), myrrh and aloe, hair (unknown origin), fibers of modern threads (from the stitching used over time to hold it to a frame).

On the other hand, the canvas presents a series of wrinkles, which have served to determine the way in which it was placed on the head of Our Lord, and various original perforations that are related to the stains it presents; hence it has been concluded that they come from the sharp objects with which the Shroud was attached to the head of the corpse.

It also shows holes produced by a burn (possibly from a sail), the modern stitching to hold it to the frame, and a tear caused by its continuous folding and unfolding.

Finally, in one of the corners a sample of fabric was withdrawn to deliver it to Monsignor Ricci, the Italian priest who studied the Shroud of Turin and who, in his book L'Uomo della Sindone è Gesù (1969), relates by first time the Shroud of Turin with the Shroud of Oviedo.

Of all the studies carried out on the Holy Shroud, the hematological analyzes, carried out by a medical-forensic team, have yielded the most important results: the nature of the stains was sought and the "how and why" they formed .

It is necessary to indicate that the Shroud was placed on the head of Jesus Christ folded in half, which is why it presents symmetrical stains generated at different moments in a short time sequence.

Analysis of the blood indicated that they were human blood stains, group AB, in some cases diluted as a result of hemorrhagic pulmonary edema.

A morphogeometric study was carried out, applying to a human model a folded canvas and with some stains equal to those of the Shroud, checking how the stains fit with those that would occur in a nosebleed, being able to distinguish, in the central part, the corresponding stains. to the nose, one of the cheekbones and the beard. By distinguishing several overlapping bloodstains, the studies concluded that there were several outflows of blood, coinciding with two different positions of the head. The conclusions established that a first stain was produced with the body vertical, the head tilted forward and slightly tilted to the right (Christ on the cross), while the second would occur when the body is placed in a horizontal position and upside down. (descent from the cross). Scientists have identified up to four different liquid outlets throughout this entire process.

On one of the sides, some blood stains were identified, called "puntiform", whose coagulation determined that they were produced when the individual was alive. By describing a parabolic line and appearing to be caused by a sharp object, they have been identified with the drops of blood that impregnated Christ's hair after being crowned with thorns.

Other perimeter stains that were analyzed indicated that the person on whom this canvas had been placed had been violently beaten before dying.

The conclusions of this study, carried out by the Spanish Sindonology Center (EDICES), indicate that this cloth covered the head of a crucified man who died of severe pulmonary edema, who had injuries to the head, forehead, neck and shoulders. and that seems to have been crowned with thorns. After his death on the cross, his head was covered with a cloth, as required by the Jewish custom of hiding the disfigured face of the deceased. Shortly after his death, the body was taken down from the cross and placed on the ground. Later he was embalmed and buried. This sequence coincides with the evangelical accounts of the crucifixion and death of the Lord.

The Gospel of Saint John (20, 7), when narrating the resurrection, tells us that inside the empty tomb were "... the cloths on and the shroud that had covered his head, not placed with the cloths but folded apart...". These canvases and the shroud would be collected by the disciples who went to the tomb of Jesus Christ and kept by the Christians in Jerusalem with other relics.

As has already been said, in the 7th century, after the Persian invasion, the Shroud was transferred to the Iberian Peninsula. There are numerous medieval texts that refer to this relic and its eventful journey through the Mediterranean. Thus, references can be found in the Valenciennes Codex 99 (S. IX); in the Liber Testamentorum and in the Corpus Pelagianum, works of Bishop Pelayo of Oviedo (S. XII); in the manuscripts Valenciennes 30, Cambrai B804 and Brussels II 2544; the Crónica Silense (c. 1115) and the Chronicon Mundi by Lucas de Tuy (second half of the 12th century).

Finally, the coincidences that this relic presents with the Holy Shroud of Turin should be mentioned, identified with the mortuary cloth that wrapped the body of Jesus Christ to be buried. Studies have identified the following: in both cases, these canvases covered the body of an adult man, who had a beard and long hair, mistreated before death, with puncture wounds to the head caused by what appears to be a crown of thorns, crucified, died of severe pulmonary edema and whose blood group was AB.

Death by crucifixion was relatively frequent in the Roman Empire, but there is only news of one criminal who was also crowned with thorns: Jesus Christ.

The Holy Shroud of Oviedo has been preserved for more than a thousand years in the Holy Chamber of the Oviedo Cathedral, where it has been venerated by thousands of pilgrims. There he continues to receive faithful daily who can contemplate a facsimile. The Holy Shroud can be seen three weeks a year: Holy Week, Easter Week and during the Jubilee of the Holy Cross (September 14 to 21). Three days a year, from the main altar, a blessing is given with the Holy Shroud: Good Friday, September 14 and 21.

The treasures of the Holy Chamber

LOS ANGELES CROSS

Legend has it that two young foreigners appeared at the Oviedo court of Alfonso II at the time when he was looking for goldsmiths who, with his gold and jewels, would make a cross to offer it to the Church of San Salvador. The king handed over his riches to them and when, alarmed by his overconfidence, he went to the room where the foreigners were working he was dazzled by the radiance emanating from a magnificent cross that awaited in the center of the room.

This legend identified those young people with angels sent by God, hence the votive cross of Alfonso II is known as the "Cross of the Angels".

It is a Greek cross, with a cherry core, covered with sheets of gold and precious stones. The decoration shows its Byzantine affiliation. On the obverse, the cross is covered in gold filigree and forty-eight settings with cabochons and notches, of Roman origin, from the 1st and 2nd centuries. In the center and the ends of the arms on the reverse there are five settings with notches and cabochons, in addition to the votive inscription indicating that Alfonso II donated it in the year 808:

“May this remain pleasantly welcomed in honor of God. Alfonso, humble slave of Christ, offers it. Whoever dares to snatch me away, except where my free will leaves me, be killed by divine lightning. This work was finished in the era 846 (year 808). With this sign the pious is protected, with this sign the enemy is defeated.

Alfonso II commissioned this work as a symbol of his political legitimacy to definitively consolidate his accession to the throne, at a time when civil power and religion were closely linked.

The Cruz de los Ángeles could also have had a processional use and the holes excavated in the arms indicate its use as a reliquary.

VICTORY CROSS

Tradition tells that the oak soul of this cross was hoisted by Pelayo in the battle of Covadonga (c. 718 or 722), in a transcript of Constantine's vision before the battle of Puente Milvio against Maxentius (312). For this reason it has become the emblem of the Principality of Asturias.

It is a Latin cross with the arms finished in trilobe. It was covered with gold sheets. On the obverse, precious stone settings are combined with plant and animal-themed enamels. On the reverse, the decoration is more sober, concentrating on the central medallion and the settings at the ends of the arms. The decorative techniques used place it in the orbit of Carolingian goldsmith workshops.

An inscription, which runs around the entire perimeter, records that it was a gift from King Alfonso III (866-910) and his wife Jimena to the Church of Oviedo in the year 908. The hole in the center indicates that it also worked as a locket.

“This that the servants of Christ offered. Alfonso prince and Scemena queen, remain welcomed with joy in honor of God. Whoever dares to snatch these gifts of ours, be killed by divine lightning. With this sign the pious is protected, with this sign the enemy is defeated. This work was finished and granted to San Salvador from the Oviedo headquarters, and carved in the castle of Gauzón in the year 42 of our reign, during the era 946 (AD 908)”.

It was rebuilt twice: between 1935 and 1942 after the damage suffered by the blowing up of the Holy Chamber in 1934 and between 1977 and 1982 after the robbery in 1977.

AGATE BOX

It is a prismatic casket with an inverted truncated pyramid lid that was used as a reliquary. It was a gift from King Fruela II (910 – 925), son of Alfonso III, and his wife Nunilo to the Oviedo Cathedral.

Each of its faces, with the exception of the base, is covered with gold sheets on which arcuations are drawn that frame agate plates, hence its name. A plate of French origin was placed on the lid, made towards the end of the 8th century, and whose original use (brooch, reliquary, box fragment...) is unknown. This plaque combines gemstone settings with enamels. The base is adorned with a silver plate on which a cross has been carved surrounded by the symbols of the four evangelists. On the base is the votive inscription:

“This offered by the servants of Christ Froila and Nunilo, called Scemena, remain joyfully received in honor of God. This work was finished and granted to San Salvador de Oviedo. Whoever dares to snatch these gifts of ours, be killed by divine lightning. It was made in the era 948 (year 910)”.

It had to be restored twice: between 1935 and 1942 after the damage suffered by the blowing up of the Holy Chamber in 1934 and between 1977 and 1982 after the robbery in 1977.

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