The Oratorio of the Sacred Cave

 
Two Oratories are remarkable in Cadíz - one as the den of liberal constitutions and the other as perhaps the greatest small Baroque chapel in Andalusia. We didn't have enough time to see the former because we spent a lot of time in the latter: The Oratorio of the Sacred Cave (Oratorio de la Santa Cueva).

Portico

Along streets too narrow to get proper pictures, we found adjacent religious buildings: the Church of the Holy Rosary and the Oratorio of the Sacred Cave.

The portico is that of of Holy Rosary church. The Rosary gets special devotion here as our Lady of the Rosary is the town's patron after saving Cadíz from the plague twice. Note the papal tiaras and St. Peter's keys on either side of the door.(Double click on the picture to enlarge it.) 

About the time this church was built, the bishop established 15 brotherhoods -- one for each mystery of the Rosary. Members would walk through town chanting the prayers. Today over 30 brotherhoods drag floats through the streets during Cadiz's many religious festivals -- some considered the best in Iberia.

Unfortunately the church of the Holy Rosary was closed, but the extraordinary Oratory attached to it was open.  It's divided into two worship spaces: a simple lower level with a large sculpture of Calvary and an incredible Baroque/neo-classic upper chapel that rivals anything near its size in all of Andalusia.

The last word in lower chapel design

Oratories are semi-public churches usually serving as chapels for specific congregations. For this Oratorio to the Sacred Cave, the lower chapel is quite austere and probably devoted to somber spiritual exercises by novitiates or those making retreats. Both this and the elaborate upper chapel -- and the Holy Rosary Church next door -- were funded by the generous pocketbook of nobleman Jose Saenz de Santamaria who's buried here.

The retreat master's chair and desk

At the rear of the lower chapel is this desk used by the religious formation master to observe the retreatants and novices during their spiritual formation.

While the elegant upper chapel is an ellipse, we have a mundane rectangle-shaped space down below separated into three naves by heavy pillars bearing the weight of all the inlaid marble which forms the upper chapel.



Dominating this lower space is the large neoclassic sculpture of Calvary with its cross soaring into the dome area. (Pretty good when you can get a dome in the lower church!) At the carving's feet are torture implements. (San Ricardo de Cheney watches over these, perhaps). The sculptors include one of many called Vaccaro.

This sculpture (and a bit of sponsorship) inspired a famous musical connection as well: Joseph Haydn's famous Oratorio based upon the Seven Last Words of Christ was commissioned for this place (and a copy of the original publication is on display in a mini-museum which uses some of the wider hall spaces.) 

Ready for your weekly quiz: which Gospel contains the seven last words? Answer at the end of this page?

Supposedly retreatants would achieve a stage of contemplation in the simple chapel below and then would ascend to the upper level into an exquisite religious space:

The Upper Chapel

Often we find that the buildings of one or two architects dominate the look of smaller Andalusian towns. This is especially the case if the place was wealthy for a fairly short period of time. For Cadíz, these architects are Torcuato Cayon de la Vega (died 1783) and his godson/namesake Torcuato Benjumeda (died 1836). Cayon started out Baroque but transitioned to the neo-classic architecture which Benjumeda mastered. This upper chapel of this Oratorio is their masterpiece.

Note the semicircular lunette paintings between the soaring ionic columns

The two Torcuatos appeared to work well together. Typically the younger Benjumeda would execute the designs of Cayon de la Vega, meaning the overall feel would be restrained neo-classic as we have here rather than the flamboyant Baroque of de la Vega.

Their layout pays homage to Italian master sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini. Bernini's favorite of his architectural works was the elliptical chapel done for the Jesuit seminary of Sant'Andrea on the Quirinal Hill in Rome built a century before this oratory.

We couldn't tell what the Jesuit DNA was in this place, but it's all over the décor. The choice of Bernini's seminary chapel was not by accident. More on that later.



The ionic columns define 6 spaces, one of them recessed into the elegant tabernacle capped by the ceiling above.



The inlaid multicolored marble floor seems like the type that would someday inspire M. C. Escher who was clearly influenced by the Moorish Alhambra in Granada.

Virtually no detail is left undecorated including this harvest decoration on the door.

Goya's hand

Five lunettes (three done by Goya in 1795 including the one below of the Last Supper) circle the walls and complement the altar ceiling. (Please forgive the camera shake, these are much better preserved than this photo suggests.) Already the dominant Spanish painter when he did these lunettes, Goya became first painter to the King shortly afterward.

Reliefs of the Young Jesuit Saints

It's hard to tell just what the Jesuit connection is to this place but besides this spot's overall elliptical design being inspired by the Jesuit seminary chapel in Rome, each side has an elaborate relief of a young Jesuit saint receiving communion, perhaps to inspire Jesuit novices who may have prayed in this space. Above we have Saint Stanislaus Kostka, a Jesuit novice who died at age 18. This image recalls how Saint Barbara brought angels to give Kostka communion when he was sick. Although the son of wealth, Kostka walked the 1500 miles from his native Poland to enroll at the Jesuit seminary in Rome. In the top portion, we have Mary and Jesus at left and Saint Barbara and Saint Lawrence (on whose feast Kostka died) at right.

Another communion relief is shown below:




These high reliefs are the work of sculptor Cosme Velasquez Merino (1755 --1837). Born in Madrid, Velasquez became head of the sculpture department of Cadíz's art academy. Above we see the first communion of another young Jesuit -- Saint Louis (or Aloysius) Gonzaga who also joined the Society at Sant'Andrea. He died while ministering to victims of the plague in 1591. He was 23.

Here he receives communion from another Jesuit saint, Charles Borromeo. Gonzaga is dressed in the lower section as the noble he was but wears the Jesuit novice cassock at upper right as Mary receives him into heaven. So ends our visit of this exquisite chapel.

And now for something completely different. After leaving the neo-classical jewel of the Oratory, we found this shop window across the street selling both religious and secular sculpture.

ANSWER TO THE QUIZ: It was a trick question, the Seven Last Words (really sentences) were compiled from all four Gospels.

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Cadíz, Spain

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