Via Crucis to the Cruz del Campo
Encyclopedia
The Via Crucis to the Cruz del Campo in Seville
, Andalusia
, Spain
is believed to be Spain's only Via Crucis that runs through the streets of a city. (The term Via Crucis is of Latin origin; it is used in Spanish
, although Spanish orthography
places an accent mark on the i, hence Vía Crucis; in English, literally "Way of the Cross", but "Stations of the Cross" is also common.) It is the basis of the famous traditions of Holy Week in Seville
. Since the Via Crucis was first laid out in 1521, both the starting and ending points have changed, as has the number of stations.
Fray Álvaro of Córdoba
in 1421, but was popularized mainly by Franciscan
s. It is a local recreation of what is now called the Via Dolorosa
in Jerusalem, by then an established feature of a pilgrimage there, though various routes have been used.
With reference to the Via Crucis in Seville, and especially with reference to the Templete (see below) for events of the 15th and 16th century a great deal of historical caution is in order. Evidence is incomplete and sometimes contradictory. It is difficult to be confident of the continuity between entities with the same name mentioned centuries apart. The difficulties are compounded by the tendency of most sources to give only one version of events, even when the facts are in doubt.
On 20 October 1520, Don Fadrique Enríquez de Rivera, First Marquis of Tarifa, returned from a trip through Europe and the Holy Land
. During Lent
in 1521, he inaugurated the observance in Seville of the Holy Via Crucis. The route began in the Chapel of the Flagellations
of his palace and ended at a pillar located in what some sources say was known as the Huerta de los Ángeles ("Orchard of the Angels", but quite likely ""Orchard of the [Hermandad de Nuestra Señora de] los Ángeles), not far from the Cruz del Campo, the terminus of the route since 1630. This route ran the same distance of 997 metres (3,271 ft) or 1321 paces supposed to have separated the praetorium
of Pontius Pilate
from Calvary
. The Marquis's palace, the Palacio de San Andrés, was then still partly under construction; it later became known as the Casa de Pilatos
through its association with the Via Crucis, and, much altered over the next few centuries, is now property of the dukes of Medinaceli. It was declared a National Monument in 1931. The oldest documentation of the name Casa de Pilatos is from 1754.
In keeping with the theme of Christ's Passion
, the procession became strongly associated with penitence through self-flagellation
. In 1604, Cardinal Fernando Niño de Guevara
issued a series of reforms intended to rein in the tendency of the processions of flagellants to take on the character of a carnival. The brotherhoods and confraternities were formally recognized, but also brought under a set of rules. Schedules were established; nocturnal processions were banned (although that particular provision would soon lapse);) the Cathedral of Seville in the city proper and the Church of Santa Ana across the river in Triana
as Stations of Penitence, rather than each group beginning its route at a location of its own choosing.
Processions of flagellants were banned in Spain in 1777, as were most midnight processions; the processions of Holy Week in Seville were excepted from the latter prohibition.
With an alteration of the route in 1630, the observance continued until 1873, when it ceased at the time of the First Spanish Republic
.
On 8 March 1957 the descendants of the Marquis of Tarifa reestablished the Via Crucis. Fourteen penitential confraternities
from Seville walked the route of fourteen stations during Holy Week, culminating on Easter Sunday, April 21. The reestablished stations were blessed by Archbishop (and future Cardinal) Bueno Monreal, (as is now recorded on a commemorative marble memorial). (Bueno Monreal had been Coadjutor Archbishop since 1954, due to a struggle between Archbishop Pedro Segura y Sáenz
—extremely conservative even by Spanish standards of the time—with the Holy See
. Bueno Monreal became Archbishop on Segura's death 8 April 1957, and would become a cardinal in 1958.) This revived Via Crucis continued only for a few years.
In 1976 the council of Brotherhoods and Confraternities of Seville again reestablished the tradition.
The practice of the time would have meant that the original Via Crucis of 1521 would have had seven stations, quite different from the current ones: the garden of Gethsemane
; the house of the Sanhedrin
, Annas
; the house of Sanhedrin Caiaphas
; the house of Pontius Pilate
; the palace of Herod
; a return to Pilate's house; and finally the hill of Calvary
. Another difference from the current Via Crucis would have been that it would not initially have had such a character of an urban procession: by the fourth station, the procession would left the walled city and would be walking through orchards, countryside, and the scattered building on the fringes of the city. It is unclear whether the wooden crosses that initially marked the stations were permanently installed or put in place only for the Lenten season.
Eventually, this changed to a configuration more like the present one. In 1720 the last two stations were added, for a total of 14, resulting in the current route followed by each of the various confraternities who process through the city during Holy Week, which runs roughly 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) along streets in central Seville. Each station corresponds to a scene from the day of Jesus
' crucifixion (see Passion
). While the stations marked in centuries past by crosses on brick pedestals, originally all wooden but some eventually made of iron, scenes corresponding to the fourteen stations are now represented in azulejo
s (a style of ceramic tile typical of the Iberian Peninsula
), some of which date from 1957, but most from near the end of the 20th century, when they were replaced because of deterioration. The azulejos at each station include both a picture and a written caption.
, often at the entrance to a town) that later became the Templete is uncertain; similarly for the religious order believed to have first built it.
The Templete is traditionally dated from 1380, although some sources give a date as late as 1460. It was almost certainly constructed by the cofradía (confraternity
) or hermandad (brotherhood) de negros or de negritos of Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles; it was in any case closely associated with them. That confraternity was very probably founded in the 14th century by archbishop Gonzalo de Mena; although their current Rule dates only from 1554, it is certain that they existed before that.Negros or negritos in their common name refers to the fact that they were originally an order operating a hospital that cared for Black people
and, indeed, the members of the Hermandad in its early centuries were primarily (possibly exclusively) Black. In the interior of the original humilladero was a wooden cross. In that period, the modest structure was known as the Cruz del Campo ("Country Cross" or "Cross of the Field") because it stood outside the city walls. By the early 16th century, the site had already become associated with Lent and penitence.
Sources indicate that it was in 1482 that the corregidor
or asistente of Seville, Don Diego de Merlo, substituted a stone cross and covered it with a Templete in the Mudéjar
style, 13 metres (42.7 ft) in height. That date seems particularly probable because that year the archdiocese received an ostensible relic of the True Cross
. However, the words written inside the dome of the Templete giving that date only date from 1881.
Fadrique Enríquez de Rivera, first Marquis of Tarifa, restored the Templete when he initiated the Via Crucis in 1521. In 1536, the Marquis bought the Templete (previously owned by the brothers of the Monastery of San Benito Abad), and moved it to its current location. The current marble cross carved with images of Jesus
and Mary
(which replaced the earlier wooden cross) is attributed to Juan Bautista Vázquez “The Elder”, and dates from 1571. In either 1624 or 1648 there was a further restoration by Pedro Caballero de Illescas. In 1630 it became the endpoint of the Via Crucis. In 1880 municipal architect Aurelio Alvarez did work to improve its structural integrity, and the following year Juaquín Guichot did some work, writing inside the dome that the structure dates from 1482. Metal strapping was added for structural purposes in 1888; further work was done in 1899, 1912, and 1963, but in general the structure continued to deteriorate.
In 1996, the union of confraternities involved in the Holy Week observances suggested moving the Templete to the intersection of the Avenida de Andalucía and the Ronda de Tamarguillo, but the city government rejected the idea. In 2000, José L. García of ABC Sevilla wrote of the "sad aspect" of a monument on a busy street "practically asphyxiated by modern buildings", much vandalized, with its interior turned into a filthy nest of pigeons.
In 1904 a brewery had been built nearby and took the name Cervezas Cruzcampo; it is now Heineken
España. After innumerable years of promises by many entities to restore the deteriorating structure of the Templete (which has been owned by the city of Seville since at least the 19th century,) work finally began in 2007, paid for by the Fundación Cruzcampo (founded by the brewery company), and was completed 29 February 2008 with a benediction
by Carlos Amigo Vallejo of Seville.
Seville
Seville is the artistic, historic, cultural, and financial capital of southern Spain. It is the capital of the autonomous community of Andalusia and of the province of Seville. It is situated on the plain of the River Guadalquivir, with an average elevation of above sea level...
, Andalusia
Andalusia
Andalusia is the most populous and the second largest in area of the autonomous communities of Spain. The Andalusian autonomous community is officially recognised as a nationality of Spain. The territory is divided into eight provinces: Huelva, Seville, Cádiz, Córdoba, Málaga, Jaén, Granada and...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
is believed to be Spain's only Via Crucis that runs through the streets of a city. (The term Via Crucis is of Latin origin; it is used in Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
, although Spanish orthography
Orthography
The orthography of a language specifies a standardized way of using a specific writing system to write the language. Where more than one writing system is used for a language, for example Kurdish, Uyghur, Serbian or Inuktitut, there can be more than one orthography...
places an accent mark on the i, hence Vía Crucis; in English, literally "Way of the Cross", but "Stations of the Cross" is also common.) It is the basis of the famous traditions of Holy Week in Seville
Holy Week in Seville
Holy Week in Seville is one of the most important traditional events of the city. It is celebrated in the week leading up to Easter , and is one of the better known religious events within Spain...
. Since the Via Crucis was first laid out in 1521, both the starting and ending points have changed, as has the number of stations.
History
The tradition of the Via Crucis in Spain began with the DominicanDominican Order
The Order of Preachers , after the 15th century more commonly known as the Dominican Order or Dominicans, is a Catholic religious order founded by Saint Dominic and approved by Pope Honorius III on 22 December 1216 in France...
Fray Álvaro of Córdoba
Córdoba, Spain
-History:The first trace of human presence in the area are remains of a Neanderthal Man, dating to c. 32,000 BC. In the 8th century BC, during the ancient Tartessos period, a pre-urban settlement existed. The population gradually learned copper and silver metallurgy...
in 1421, but was popularized mainly by Franciscan
Franciscan
Most Franciscans are members of Roman Catholic religious orders founded by Saint Francis of Assisi. Besides Roman Catholic communities, there are also Old Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, ecumenical and Non-denominational Franciscan communities....
s. It is a local recreation of what is now called the Via Dolorosa
Via Dolorosa
The Via Dolorosa is a street, in two parts, within the Old City of Jerusalem, held to be the path that Jesus walked, carrying his cross, on the way to his crucifixion. The current route has been established since the 18th century, replacing various earlier versions...
in Jerusalem, by then an established feature of a pilgrimage there, though various routes have been used.
With reference to the Via Crucis in Seville, and especially with reference to the Templete (see below) for events of the 15th and 16th century a great deal of historical caution is in order. Evidence is incomplete and sometimes contradictory. It is difficult to be confident of the continuity between entities with the same name mentioned centuries apart. The difficulties are compounded by the tendency of most sources to give only one version of events, even when the facts are in doubt.
On 20 October 1520, Don Fadrique Enríquez de Rivera, First Marquis of Tarifa, returned from a trip through Europe and the Holy Land
Holy Land
The Holy Land is a term which in Judaism refers to the Kingdom of Israel as defined in the Tanakh. For Jews, the Land's identifiction of being Holy is defined in Judaism by its differentiation from other lands by virtue of the practice of Judaism often possible only in the Land of Israel...
. During Lent
Lent
In the Christian tradition, Lent is the period of the liturgical year from Ash Wednesday to Easter. The traditional purpose of Lent is the preparation of the believer – through prayer, repentance, almsgiving and self-denial – for the annual commemoration during Holy Week of the Death and...
in 1521, he inaugurated the observance in Seville of the Holy Via Crucis. The route began in the Chapel of the Flagellations
Flagellation of Christ
The Flagellation of Christ, sometimes known as Christ at the Column or the Scourging at the Pillar, is a scene from the Passion of Christ very frequently shown in Christian art, in cycles of the Passion or the larger subject of the Life of Christ. It is the fourth station of the modern alternate...
of his palace and ended at a pillar located in what some sources say was known as the Huerta de los Ángeles ("Orchard of the Angels", but quite likely ""Orchard of the [Hermandad de Nuestra Señora de] los Ángeles), not far from the Cruz del Campo, the terminus of the route since 1630. This route ran the same distance of 997 metres (3,271 ft) or 1321 paces supposed to have separated the praetorium
Praetorium
- Etemology :The praetorium, also spelled prœtorium or pretorium, was originally used to identify the general’s tent within a Roman Castra, Castellum, or encampment. The word originates from the name of the chief Roman magistrate, known as Praetor...
of Pontius Pilate
Pontius Pilate
Pontius Pilatus , known in the English-speaking world as Pontius Pilate , was the fifth Prefect of the Roman province of Judaea, from AD 26–36. He is best known as the judge at Jesus' trial and the man who authorized the crucifixion of Jesus...
from Calvary
Calvary
Calvary or Golgotha was the site, outside of ancient Jerusalem’s early first century walls, at which the crucifixion of Jesus is said to have occurred. Calvary and Golgotha are the English names for the site used in Western Christianity...
. The Marquis's palace, the Palacio de San Andrés, was then still partly under construction; it later became known as the Casa de Pilatos
Casa de Pilatos
La Casa de Pilatos is an Andalusian palace in Seville, Spain, which serves as the permanent residence of the Dukes of Medinaceli. The building is a mixture of Renaissance Italian and Mudéjar Spanish styles...
through its association with the Via Crucis, and, much altered over the next few centuries, is now property of the dukes of Medinaceli. It was declared a National Monument in 1931. The oldest documentation of the name Casa de Pilatos is from 1754.
In keeping with the theme of Christ's Passion
Passion (Christianity)
The Passion is the Christian theological term used for the events and suffering – physical, spiritual, and mental – of Jesus in the hours before and including his trial and execution by crucifixion...
, the procession became strongly associated with penitence through self-flagellation
Flagellant
Flagellants are practitioners of an extreme form of mortification of their own flesh by whipping it with various instruments.- History :Flagellantism was a 13th and 14th centuries movement, consisting of radicals in the Catholic Church. It began as a militant pilgrimage and was later condemned by...
. In 1604, Cardinal Fernando Niño de Guevara
Fernando Niño de Guevara
Fernando Niño de Guevara was a Spanish cardinal who was also Archbishop of Seville and Grand Inquisitor of Spain.-Biography:Fernando Niño de Guevara was born in Toledo, Spain in 1541, the son of Rodrigo Niño, Marquis of Tejares. An uncle, also named Fernando Niño de Guevara , was Archbishop of...
issued a series of reforms intended to rein in the tendency of the processions of flagellants to take on the character of a carnival. The brotherhoods and confraternities were formally recognized, but also brought under a set of rules. Schedules were established; nocturnal processions were banned (although that particular provision would soon lapse);) the Cathedral of Seville in the city proper and the Church of Santa Ana across the river in Triana
Triana, Seville
Triana is a neighborhood and administrative district in the city of Seville that lies on the west bank of the Guadalquivir river. Like other neighborhoods that were historically split from the main city, it was known as an arrabal. Triana is placed in an almost-island between two branches of the...
as Stations of Penitence, rather than each group beginning its route at a location of its own choosing.
Processions of flagellants were banned in Spain in 1777, as were most midnight processions; the processions of Holy Week in Seville were excepted from the latter prohibition.
With an alteration of the route in 1630, the observance continued until 1873, when it ceased at the time of the First Spanish Republic
First Spanish Republic
The First Spanish Republic was the political regime that existed in Spain between the parliamentary proclamation on 11 February 1873 and 29 December 1874 when General Arsenio Martínez-Campos's pronunciamento marked the beginning of the Bourbon Restoration in Spain...
.
On 8 March 1957 the descendants of the Marquis of Tarifa reestablished the Via Crucis. Fourteen penitential confraternities
Confraternity
A confraternity is normally a Roman Catholic or Orthodox organization of lay people created for the purpose of promoting special works of Christian charity or piety, and approved by the Church hierarchy...
from Seville walked the route of fourteen stations during Holy Week, culminating on Easter Sunday, April 21. The reestablished stations were blessed by Archbishop (and future Cardinal) Bueno Monreal, (as is now recorded on a commemorative marble memorial). (Bueno Monreal had been Coadjutor Archbishop since 1954, due to a struggle between Archbishop Pedro Segura y Sáenz
Pedro Segura y Sáenz
Pedro Segura y Sáenz was a Spanish Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church who served as Archbishop of Toledo from 1927 to 1931, and Archbishop of Seville from 1937 until his death...
—extremely conservative even by Spanish standards of the time—with the Holy See
Holy See
The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...
. Bueno Monreal became Archbishop on Segura's death 8 April 1957, and would become a cardinal in 1958.) This revived Via Crucis continued only for a few years.
In 1976 the council of Brotherhoods and Confraternities of Seville again reestablished the tradition.
The route
The original Via Crucis initiated by the Marquis of Tarifa began inside the Casa de Pilatos in the Chapel of the Flagellations and ended at a pillar near the current Templete (small temple). Beginning in 1630, both the beginning and end of the route changed, beginning at the current shrine with its marble altarpiece erected that year on the façade of the Casa de Pilatos, and ending at the Templete. The simple wooden Cruz de las Toallas (literally "Cross of the Towels") that previously marked the first station passed into the possession of the Hermandad de los Negritos (for whom see below).The practice of the time would have meant that the original Via Crucis of 1521 would have had seven stations, quite different from the current ones: the garden of Gethsemane
Gethsemane
Gethsemane is a garden at the foot of the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem most famous as the place where, according to Biblical texts, Jesus and his disciples are said to have prayed the night before Jesus' crucifixion.- Etymology :...
; the house of the Sanhedrin
Sanhedrin
The Sanhedrin was an assembly of twenty-three judges appointed in every city in the Biblical Land of Israel.The Great Sanhedrin was the supreme court of ancient Israel made of 71 members...
, Annas
Annas
Annas [also Ananus or Ananias], son of Seth , was appointed by the Roman legate Quirinius as the first High Priest of the newly formed Roman province of Iudaea in 6 AD; just after the Romans had deposed Archelaus, Ethnarch of Judaea, thereby putting Judaea directly under Roman rule.Annas officially...
; the house of Sanhedrin Caiaphas
Caiaphas
Joseph, son of Caiaphas, Hebrew יוסף בַּר קַיָּפָא or Yosef Bar Kayafa, commonly known simply as Caiaphas in the New Testament, was the Roman-appointed Jewish high priest who is said to have organized the plot to kill Jesus...
; the house of Pontius Pilate
Pontius Pilate
Pontius Pilatus , known in the English-speaking world as Pontius Pilate , was the fifth Prefect of the Roman province of Judaea, from AD 26–36. He is best known as the judge at Jesus' trial and the man who authorized the crucifixion of Jesus...
; the palace of Herod
Herod Antipas
Herod Antipater , known by the nickname Antipas, was a 1st-century AD ruler of Galilee and Perea, who bore the title of tetrarch...
; a return to Pilate's house; and finally the hill of Calvary
Calvary
Calvary or Golgotha was the site, outside of ancient Jerusalem’s early first century walls, at which the crucifixion of Jesus is said to have occurred. Calvary and Golgotha are the English names for the site used in Western Christianity...
. Another difference from the current Via Crucis would have been that it would not initially have had such a character of an urban procession: by the fourth station, the procession would left the walled city and would be walking through orchards, countryside, and the scattered building on the fringes of the city. It is unclear whether the wooden crosses that initially marked the stations were permanently installed or put in place only for the Lenten season.
Eventually, this changed to a configuration more like the present one. In 1720 the last two stations were added, for a total of 14, resulting in the current route followed by each of the various confraternities who process through the city during Holy Week, which runs roughly 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) along streets in central Seville. Each station corresponds to a scene from the day of Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
' crucifixion (see Passion
Passion (Christianity)
The Passion is the Christian theological term used for the events and suffering – physical, spiritual, and mental – of Jesus in the hours before and including his trial and execution by crucifixion...
). While the stations marked in centuries past by crosses on brick pedestals, originally all wooden but some eventually made of iron, scenes corresponding to the fourteen stations are now represented in azulejo
Azulejo
Azulejo from the Arabic word Zellige زليج is a form of Portuguese or Spanish painted, tin-glazed, ceramic tilework. They have become a typical aspect of Portuguese culture, having been produced without interruption for five centuries...
s (a style of ceramic tile typical of the Iberian Peninsula
Iberian Peninsula
The Iberian Peninsula , sometimes called Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe and includes the modern-day sovereign states of Spain, Portugal and Andorra, as well as the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar...
), some of which date from 1957, but most from near the end of the 20th century, when they were replaced because of deterioration. The azulejos at each station include both a picture and a written caption.
The Templete
Everything about the origin and early years of the original humilladero (a type of roadside shrineShrine
A shrine is a holy or sacred place, which is dedicated to a specific deity, ancestor, hero, martyr, saint, daemon or similar figure of awe and respect, at which they are venerated or worshipped. Shrines often contain idols, relics, or other such objects associated with the figure being venerated....
, often at the entrance to a town) that later became the Templete is uncertain; similarly for the religious order believed to have first built it.
The Templete is traditionally dated from 1380, although some sources give a date as late as 1460. It was almost certainly constructed by the cofradía (confraternity
Confraternity
A confraternity is normally a Roman Catholic or Orthodox organization of lay people created for the purpose of promoting special works of Christian charity or piety, and approved by the Church hierarchy...
) or hermandad (brotherhood) de negros or de negritos of Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles; it was in any case closely associated with them. That confraternity was very probably founded in the 14th century by archbishop Gonzalo de Mena; although their current Rule dates only from 1554, it is certain that they existed before that.Negros or negritos in their common name refers to the fact that they were originally an order operating a hospital that cared for Black people
Black people
The term black people is used in systems of racial classification for humans of a dark skinned phenotype, relative to other racial groups.Different societies apply different criteria regarding who is classified as "black", and often social variables such as class, socio-economic status also plays a...
and, indeed, the members of the Hermandad in its early centuries were primarily (possibly exclusively) Black. In the interior of the original humilladero was a wooden cross. In that period, the modest structure was known as the Cruz del Campo ("Country Cross" or "Cross of the Field") because it stood outside the city walls. By the early 16th century, the site had already become associated with Lent and penitence.
Sources indicate that it was in 1482 that the corregidor
Corregidor (position)
A corregidor was a local, administrative and judicial position in Spain and its empire. He was the highest authority of a Corregimiento. In the Americas a corregidor was often called an alcalde mayor. They began to be appointed in fourteenth century Castile and the institution was definitively...
or asistente of Seville, Don Diego de Merlo, substituted a stone cross and covered it with a Templete in the Mudéjar
Mudéjar
Mudéjar is the name given to individual Moors or Muslims of Al-Andalus who remained in Iberia after the Christian Reconquista but were not converted to Christianity...
style, 13 metres (42.7 ft) in height. That date seems particularly probable because that year the archdiocese received an ostensible relic of the True Cross
True Cross
The True Cross is the name for physical remnants which, by a Christian tradition, are believed to be from the cross upon which Jesus was crucified.According to post-Nicene historians, Socrates Scholasticus and others, the Empress Helena The True Cross is the name for physical remnants which, by a...
. However, the words written inside the dome of the Templete giving that date only date from 1881.
Fadrique Enríquez de Rivera, first Marquis of Tarifa, restored the Templete when he initiated the Via Crucis in 1521. In 1536, the Marquis bought the Templete (previously owned by the brothers of the Monastery of San Benito Abad), and moved it to its current location. The current marble cross carved with images of Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
and Mary
Mary (mother of Jesus)
Mary , commonly referred to as "Saint Mary", "Mother Mary", the "Virgin Mary", the "Blessed Virgin Mary", or "Mary, Mother of God", was a Jewish woman of Nazareth in Galilee...
(which replaced the earlier wooden cross) is attributed to Juan Bautista Vázquez “The Elder”, and dates from 1571. In either 1624 or 1648 there was a further restoration by Pedro Caballero de Illescas. In 1630 it became the endpoint of the Via Crucis. In 1880 municipal architect Aurelio Alvarez did work to improve its structural integrity, and the following year Juaquín Guichot did some work, writing inside the dome that the structure dates from 1482. Metal strapping was added for structural purposes in 1888; further work was done in 1899, 1912, and 1963, but in general the structure continued to deteriorate.
In 1996, the union of confraternities involved in the Holy Week observances suggested moving the Templete to the intersection of the Avenida de Andalucía and the Ronda de Tamarguillo, but the city government rejected the idea. In 2000, José L. García of ABC Sevilla wrote of the "sad aspect" of a monument on a busy street "practically asphyxiated by modern buildings", much vandalized, with its interior turned into a filthy nest of pigeons.
In 1904 a brewery had been built nearby and took the name Cervezas Cruzcampo; it is now Heineken
Heineken
Heineken is a Dutch beer which has been brewed by Heineken International since 1873. It is available in a 4.6% alcohol variety in countries such as Ireland. It is the flagship product of the Heineken company and is made of purified water, malted barley, hops, and yeast. In 1886 H...
España. After innumerable years of promises by many entities to restore the deteriorating structure of the Templete (which has been owned by the city of Seville since at least the 19th century,) work finally began in 2007, paid for by the Fundación Cruzcampo (founded by the brewery company), and was completed 29 February 2008 with a benediction
Benediction
A benediction is a short invocation for divine help, blessing and guidance, usually at the end of worship service.-Judaism:...
by Carlos Amigo Vallejo of Seville.
External links
Vía+Crucis Penitencial de las Cofradías de Sevilla, Consejo General de Hermandades y Cofradías de Sevilla. A description of prayers given and Biblical passages read at each of the 14 stations.- Romulaldo de Gelo, El Humilladero, el Via Crucis y la Ermita de la Cruz del Campo, degelo.com, one of the more complete online histories of the Via Crucis; also a good discussion of historiographicalHistoriographyHistoriography refers either to the study of the history and methodology of history as a discipline, or to a body of historical work on a specialized topic...
issues. It also provides addresses corresponding to the stations.