Written by Samir A. Sánchez (2016)
Photographs by Darío Hurtado, Jhonn Benítez Colmenares, Vilma Zambrano, Samir A. Sánchez, Kevin Vásquez, Carlos Alviárez Sarmiento, Carlos Alviárez Porras, Orlando Ruiz, Sonia
Becerra van der Linden, and Hubert van der Linden (2016)
To the Grateful Memory of my Great-aunt and Schoolmistress, Delfina Sandoval Zambrano (Lobatera, December 24, 1901 – San Cristóbal, January 21, 1992), and Arch. Sonia Becerra van der Linden, she passed away on Tuesday, December 31, 2019, in Amsterdam (Netherlands).
“A church [is] the only thing worthy of representing the soul of a people, for religion is the most elevated reality in man [...] and the art is beauty, and beauty is the beacon of truth, without which there is no art." Antonio Gaudí, 1852-1926.
“Le patrimoine est un miroir qui nous renvoie l'image d'un passé d'autant plus captivant qu'il est assurément mort.” Pierre Nora (1931), French cultural historian, Between Memory and History: Les Lieux de Mémoire, 1989
Complete text is
presented in English, in print, under the headline ‘History and Art of a
Romanesque Revival Architecture in Latin America: Our Lady of the Rosary of
Chiquinquirá’s Parish Church Building (Lobatera, Táchira State, Venezuela),’ in
Paramillo Review 4 (2018), pp. 173-206, issue.
Je suis Notre-Dame de Lobatera... Restoring an icon
Standing at the foot of this construction, focused on the architectural view, the church of Lobatera can truthfully be described as particularly successful. The embodiment of the Romanesque revival mastery and classical architecture of the church and the main facade of Pbr. Pedro María Morales and local master builder Jesús Uzcátegui's
masterpiece: The Our Lady of the Rosary of Chiquinquirá of Lobatera’s Parish Church, has finally
emerged from under scaffolding following months of an in-depth restoration work. Next year the facade celebrates its 109th anniversary —all the former church save the facade with
its twin towers— and the new church building its 50th anniversary.
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A view Lobatera Parish Church and its shimmering facade with scaffolding. Includes Il campanile or the Bell tower (left) and the Clock tower (right). Photograph by Darío Hurtado, 2016. |
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Late Roman or Early Byzantine landscape, Divine inspiration in the early 20th-century... Roman Catholic Church dedicated to Our Lady of the Rosary of Chiquinquirá (‘Nuestra Señora del Rosario de Chiquinquirá’, Spanish name) in Lobatera (Táchira State - Venezuela). Photograph by Darío Hurtado, 2018 |
This Parish Church dominates the town of Lobatera. The town sits at the juncture of valleys amid Andes mountains in the historic region of Lobatera in northern Táchira State, Diocese
of San Cristóbal (Dioecesis Sancti
Christophori in Venetiola, erected by the Apostolic Constitution Ad munus, 1922), in Venezuela-South America.
It is
a Roman Catholic Church (Cultural Heritage of the Church), dedicated to Our Lady of the Rosary of Chiquinquirá (‘Nuestra Señora del Rosario de Chiquinquirá’, Spanish name). Finished and re-dedicated
in 1967, it is widely considered to be one of the finest examples of severity and dignity, or the Roman ideals of severitas and dignitas, in the Tachiran ecclesiastical
architecture (and is among the largest and most well-known church buildings in Romanesque
revival style in Táchira State and a Venezuela Heritage Site). This interpretation implies that Lobatera
religious building conveys monumental grandeur, combined with simplicity of
decoration—in a statement: ΄simplicity in construction, severity in the
whole, nobility without arrogance, majesty without ostentation.΄
(Philip II of Spain about El Escorial Royal Palace, Madrid, letter-instruction to the
building designer Juan de Herrera, AD 1567)
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The historic centre of Lobatera combines art and history…. The town of Lobatera is based on the original Spanish town of 'Villa de Lobatera', founded in AD 1593. The town's boundaries have remained almost constant since the 16th-century and it is often called ‘The Old Colonial Town’. An aerial view of town and church, Historic Centre of Lobatera. (Photograph by Yusmila Girón's Facebook, 2016)
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Monumental... on a small scale: The Church in Statistics
Similar in plan to those
of the Middle Age -and similar to the building enterprise at Chartres (13th-century, France)- the church building and its architectural lines would not
seem out of place if set down among the great Romanesque churches and cathedrals
of Europe, in the 11th and 12th centuries. Its beauty and purity of
design equal the best of the ancient world.
The large-scale building
occupies an important and awe-inspiring viewpoint high above east side of the
town square, the Bolívar Square (Old Plaza Mayor or Main Square) in the
Historic Quarter of Lobatera. Through its great size or impact indelibly modify
the townscape, a Christian masterpiece preserved at the heart of a Tachiran
town.
In structure, the church
is precisely aligned with the direction in which the sun rises (east) and the
sun sets (west), above a terrace or raised bank of ground covering an area of 1,116
sq m (12,011.36 sq ft).
Retaining wall: Height, 1.70
m (5.57 ft) to 3.23 m (10.59 ft) ft; length, 62 m (203.41 ft), north and south
sides; width 18 m (59.05 ft), east and west sides.
Foundations of Building (Natural field stones in earth or lime mortar):
3.5 m (11.48 ft) to 6 m (19.68 ft) to bedrock below original grade.
Height of Building: 30 m
(98.42 ft) above top of foundations; 33 m (108.26 ft) above grade at foot of
retaining wall.
Roman Doric colonnade:
Number of columns, 40 plus 4 in entrance (outer); 4 great pillars (below dome)
and 12 lowest pillars in the aisles and chapels.
Windows: 10 paired windows
capped by round arches and decorated with moulding, and 20 coloured stained
glasses.
Bays: 32 units, square
or rectangular spaces enclosed by groin vaults (nave and side aisles), and
barrel vaults (chapels).
Form: Church of
pilgrimage with nave and side aisles, and rectangular apse.
Height of Towers: 25 m
(82 ft) above terrace of retaining wall; foundations 3.5 m (11.48 ft) to 6 m
(19.68 ft) to bedrock below original grade at foot of retaining wall.
Height of polygonal Dome: 30 m
(98.42 ft) from the floor of the High altar to the dome highest part.
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A view of Lobatera Parish Church over Clergy House from Lobatera Public Library Park.(Photograph by Darío Hurtado, 2016)
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In the misty distance... a bit of History
Since 1593, four
successive churches have stood on this site -to date-. Three
earthquakes (1610, 1849 and 1875)
led to the destruction of those old churches and
building of this church by 20th-century. This geologically turbulent Tachiran Andean region has always lived with risk.
The religious building, as we see it, spanned -its construction- two long
stages or phases: since May 15, 1907 to July 5, 1914, facade, twin towers and old building; May, 15 1949 to November 18, 1967, new building
and Romanesque revival polygonal dome. In this last phase, two
generations of masons and craftsmen -from villages of Lobatera
Municipality- who worked on it over a period of almost 18
years, took turns one time per week. The project then came to a halt in 1958 and it was taken up again
four years later.
Inseparable from the church, inside, it is preserved an ancient oil paint. A painting of the Virgin Mary known as 'Nuestra Señora del Rosario de Chiquinquirá de Lobatera' (Our Lady of the Rosary of Chiquinquirá, of Lobatera), dating from 1621.
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A
Spanish Colonial Art Masterpiece born from the Spanish mysticism of early 17th
century that guided the reader or observer toward a spiritual union with God
through contemplation of Christ, God made man, from the meditation of His
mysteries and from their shining forth in the Virgin Mary and in the saints
Andrew the Apostle and Anthony of Padua. Oil on canvas artwork of Our Lady of the Rosary of Chiquinquirá of
Lobatera, dates from the AD 1621. Anonymous, 41.73 x 41.73 in (1.06 x 1.06 cm).
This painting is celebrated for its academic art, gorgeous beauty, precise
drawing, naturalness and radiance, with brush-marks radiating across the canvas
in lavish density. (Photograph by Darío Hurtado, 2012. Painting as it looks
without safety glass)
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The point of all these stylistic building is the fact they happened at all, with such intensity. Here was a culture deeply interested in the spectacular beauty, art and architecture were one.
The initial neoclassical
facade and Spanish Colonial building design was provided by Pbr. Pedro María
Morales (1875-1925) and Jesús Uzcátegui—a Parish priest and Master builder
respectively, and was dedicated by Mgr. Antonio Ramón Silva, Bishop of Mérida,
on February 26, 1908. Uzcátegui based its facade on a building shown in a Spanish translation of an ancient Roman book on architecture by Vitruvius (70-25 BC, Roman architect and engineer). True, a thesaurus of the art of classical Roman architecture.
The present-day Romanesque
revival building was rebuilt by Mgr. Manuel García Guerrero, Parish priest; Fr.
Leonardo González C.Ss.R., Architect and Mr. Ricardo Ruiz, Master builder, for Lobatera
Parish Second Centennial 1767-1967, and was consecrated by Mgr. Alejandro
Fernández Feo, Bishop of San Cristóbal, on November 18, 1967. The Romanesque revival High altar or ‘Mensa
Domini’ (altar
of Antique Roman sunny-yellow marble) is directly under the centre of the dome and it was consecrated with saint martyrs Theophanous, Perpetua, Gaudius and Heliodorus of Pamphylia sacred remains (inserted
in the altar stone -lipsanotheca or reliquary-). In like manner, the altar stone surface is marked with five Greek crosses, remembering the unction or anointing of the High altar. This church has twelve consecration interior crosses carved on marble and affixed to its walls, and two crosses in the side jambs of central door. The interior crosses had a bronze candle sconce fixed beneath.
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Conservation Architect Sonia Becerra van der
Linden supervises the works. (Photograph by Darío Hurtado, 2016)
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Opus vittatum or Banded work, also knew as Opus listatum. An ancient Roman construction technique introduced at the frotal wall of the Old Lobatera's Church, made by parallel horizontal courses of stones alternated with bricks, in 1907. (Photograph by Darío Hurtado, 2016)
Facade and embellishment
Placing religious building in an art historical context, the facade -at
the beginning of the 20th century- was embellished by ‘alarife’ (Master
builder) Jesús Uzcátegui (born in Ejido, Mérida State, c. 1878), with symmetrical Roman and Greek classical features
and verticality of composition; central door, lateral doors with aedicule framing motifs, columns, pedestals and stylobates with moulded and lobated frames fill the spaces in between, and take the shape of a Roman triumphal arch.
It has three arched half-round doors or portals and
Roman Doric, fluted shaft, paired, twinned and attached columns of majestic verticality, and Tuscan rusticated shaft and attached pilasters that
correspond to the three side aisles and nave of the church. The
metopes external decoration which alludes to symbols of Christ, is available from
the main facade and each door has a name:
‘Puerta del Corazón de Jesús’ (Sacred Heart) on the north door (left, Evangelist side); ‘Puerta de Nuestra Señora del
Rosario de Chiquinquirá’ (Our Lady of the Rosary of Chiquinquirá) on the central
door or main doorway to the church, and ‘Puerta de la Eucaristía’ (The Eucharistic Chalice and Host) on south
door (right, Epistle side). At the same time -in certain sense- these gates served as the triumphal gate (Porta Triumphalis), a special symbolic function by invoking the meaning of passage from a present-day town (civitas terrena) to the City of God (civitas sancta), accessing to the Church as the triumphal territory (territorium triumphalis).
Lobatera Church Sunset Shadows and lights from Calle Real or Bolívar (Main Street of the Old Town). Photograph by Juan José Contreras, 2021.
The
first early Renaissance artist who used a Doric frieze with triglyph (three
vertical grooves) and metopes with religious sculptural decoration
was Donato Bramante with the Tempietto, in the cloister of San Pietro in
Montorio. This building was a commission of the Catholic monarchs, Ferdinand of
Aragón and Isabella of Castile, in Rome, AD 1502. This building is a true masterpiece
of Renaissance classical architecture and its Christian reinvention.
In that architectural context, the sculptural reliefs of the Eucharist (on the right door lintel) and the Sacred Heart (on the left door lintel) were copied from an old Roman missal and breviary cover (published in the 1880s), illustrated by German Frater Max Schmalzl C. Ss. R. (Falkenstein 1850 - Gars am Inn 1930). [Stahlstich
A. Pickel sculps. Nº 308 Sumptibus Fr. Pustet Ratisbonae: Thypography Pontificii
Déposé; Christus mit dem ungläubigen Thomas, Fr. Max Schmalzl C. Ss. R. inventur.
(The Doubting Thomas, Jn 20:19-29. Steel engraving Image: Jesus appears and
invites Thomas to touch his wounds. Fr. Max Schmalzl C. Ss. R. inv.)]
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The Lobatera Parish Church occupies an
important and awe-inspiring viewpoint high above east side of the Bolívar
Square (The Old Plaza Mayor or Main Square) in the Historic Quarter of Lobatera. (Photograph by Darío Hurtado, 2016) |
The addition of an extra story (of 1967) to the traditional central nave elevation of the interior was an exceptionally important event, these magnificent vaults increased the building height. So then, the main facade encloses a true Roman arch of triumph—architecturally, this arch resembled the Arch of Constantine, Rome, circa AD 315 and the Arc de Berà, Tarragona, Spain, circa 10 BC—framed by a pairs of Roman twin towers and displays a great variety of openings and
complex arrangement of entablatures, balustrades, finials (on aedicule frame lateral doors) and diversified classic arches
including a rose window of Burgundian Romanesque style. It’s a majestic openwork rose window or Catherine window (mounted in a circular pattern of radiating and interlocking lines or radial rotated tracery and composed of adjoining or overlapping geometric shapes -window
have no glass but only fretwork moulding from the stucco
decoration-) under a round or curved cornice, and
within of tympanum, surrounded by a glory, appears a quaint ornamental figure: The All-seeing Eye of Divine
Providence. The round cornice was inspired by the classical facade of Saint-Gervais-Saint-Protais Church, Paris-France (17th-century).
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Geometry and symmetry from a Rose de Damas... Notable for its elegant proportions, the imafronte or upper part of Lobatera Parish Church facade has a round or curved cornice, paired Roman Doric fluted columns with hypotrachelium ornaments; frieze with alternating triglyphs and metopes with discs of overlapping coin-like forms or the aegis (a shield of goatskin), an Athena's
symbol, the Goddess of Wisdom in Greek mythology and art, and
original openwork rosette window or Catherine window (of Burgundian Romanesque style)subdivided by
complex tracery constructed using a technique called radial rotated
tracery. This upper part is a section inspired by the architectural and
classical facade of Saint-Gervais-Saint-Protais Church, Paris-France,
dating from 17th-century. (Photograph by Darío Hurtado, 2016)
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The facade also contains
epigraphic inscriptions between lengthened frontage window frames with crossette -lateral extension of the
architrave mouldings-, and round cornice at the top of windows: north tower, ‘Levantada por disposición del Pbro. Pedro María Morales’ (Edificated by Pbr. Pedro
María Morales); south tower, ‘Lobatera, 29 de mayo de 1914’ (Lobatera May 29th, 1914) and, on the main door or
portal, ‘Dedicado a N. S. del R. de Chiquinquirá Año /1908’ (Dedicated to O[ur] L[ady] of [the] R[osary] of Chiquinquirá, AD 1908).
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Workmen in the process of carrying on repairs to the Lobatera Parish Church (facade) to restore it to their original forms. A view of a Neo-Baroque balustrade (of 1967) with baluster-shafts, finial (cauldron goblet of 1908) at the top of a pediment with raking cornice. The view here is of the lateral door (north). Overlooking the pediment, horizontal cornice with frieze and alternating triglyphs and metopes with discs of overlapping coin-like forms, discs of overlapping coin-like forms or the aegis (a shield of goatskin), an Athena's
symbol, the Goddess of Wisdom in Greek mythology and art, and Roman Doric capitals. (Photograph by Darío Hurtado, 2016)
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The Art of Sketching... Some sketches
or drawings for the Lobatera Paris Church polychrome facade restoration work,
with the more important details and the minor details. (Photographs by Arch. Sonia Becerra van der
Linden and Arch. Hubert van der Linden, 2016) |
Towers and onion domes... stone and clay mix, and its transformation into art
The Lobatera Parish Church towers, distinguished by two Roman twin towers [25 m (82 ft) high, the height is four times the base width], evokes the mausoleum of the Julii Family (40-30 BC) in St.
Remy-de-Provence, France. However, the real source of inspiration for Uzcátegui was the Mérida Metropolitan Cathedral bell tower (built in
1868, Mérida State).
Builder used rules of thumb in its construction, thus, the proportions of the Lobatera towers reveal the elementary arithmetic relationship of the parts which contribute to its harmonious composition, and its traditional
local-style church building foundations in stone strip footings [solid foundations of load-bearing stones, with approximate 3.5 m (11.48 ft) below the surface, foirmed with walls in natural field stones and central gap united by earth or lime mortar)] were constructed with stone masonry and the pouring of the clay
mix, as a whole within an ancient height-active structure.
The surface of internal tower walls exposed a construction massive, with rubble-work, quoins and stone dressing, a Roman masonry called also 'opus incertum' in four stages, and an old
winch lifted materials to the masons and bricklayers.
The Bell tower was completed in 1908 and the Clock tower construction fell four years behind schedule and the tower was finally completed in 1914.
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This rustic nobility... the surface of internal tower walls exposed a construction massive, with rubble-work, quoins and stone dressing, a Roman masonry called also 'opus incertum' in four stages. The smaller rocks and smaller stones stabilize the walls. (Clock Tower. Photograph by Samir A. Sánchez, 2013) |
Like the turn-of-the-fifteenth-century Italian architect
Leon Battista Alberti, Master builder laid out in the Lobatera Church’s towers beauty
and property. Alberti once wrote, ‘But whoever would erect a Tower best fitted
for resisting the injuries of Age, and at the same time extremely delightful to
behold, let him upon a square basis, raise a round superstructure... making
the Work less and less by degrees, according to the proportions observed
columns.’ (Leon Battista Alberti, The
Architecture of Leon Battista Alberti in Ten Books, Printed by Edward Owen,
London, 1755, p. 569)
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An 1894 McShane bell… ‘La Chiquinquirá’ (Great Chiquinquirá) is the Big
Bell of Lobatera Parish Church. It was cast by the Baltimore, MD bell-founding firm
of McShane Bell Foundry (Established in 1856) and it arrived in Lobatera in November
1894 (Photograph by Darío Hurtado, 2015) |
So, each church tower was designed in geometric layers
beginning with a rectangle on the bottom, followed by two cubes (with bevelled edges) with Tuscan rusticated shaft attached and Roman Doric plain shaft engaged columns, carefully finished, and placed at the angles. The last stage is an octagon
with small Doric engaged angular attached columns, covered by a round onion-dome (influenced by the Central and Eastern European architecture, e.g. the Bell Tower of Oristano's Cathedral, Sardinia, Italy, 14th-century) and spire is topped with a
large grille-work and forged iron Latin cross [1.76 m (5.77 ft) high].
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Grillework -and forged- iron Latin cross over onion-dome. (Photograph by Darío Hurtado, 2016) |
At the same time, these towers not only are a landmark in Lobatera but also house a peal
of four bells and an old clock. The Clock tower (south) has a bell and mechanical clock
powered by pendulum/weights that descend 4.5 m (16 ft). It is the oldest public
clock in the Táchira State, since 1913 and it has into the clock chamber a
machine elaborated by E. Howard & Co. Boston, Massachusetts USA. The bell was strike on the hour, half an hour, and quarters or quarter-hour.
Il campanile or the Bell
tower (north), or belfry, has a centenarian carillon-quadrillion, four old hand-cast bells bronze used in the Roman Catholic tradition, consecrated and installed in 1860, 1872 (two) and
1894.
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Clock Tower on the southern end of Lobatera Parish Church stands among scaffoldings.(Photograph by
Darío Hurtado, 2016)
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The Clock Tower on Sunset... (Photograph by Darío Hurtado, 2017)
The Great Dome... spirituality in brick and concrete
In the background, an octagonal and golden ribbed dome over the High altar and
behind the chancel arch is supported by four compound piers (rectangular pillars unfluted with fluted shafts columns attached), half-round arches and pendants, to
translate a square bay into a suitable octagonal base or drum with two story: tall groups of windows capped by half-round arches and surmounted by an oculus, and four-lobed shapes, oeil-de-boeuf or eye-shaped, that flood the interior with light; a hemispherical cupola decorated
with pale yellow ceramic tiles (up-and-over panels spanning between the ribs) and entablature. All is held in place by standard brick walls and eight
external/internal large ribs—and lantern with an imposing Latin cross with
trefoil terminations.
Moreover, to effect of loads, octagon-shape
is the best or most favourable building because its elements of structure are to
resist axial loading by gravity and to resist transverse loading by lateral wind
or earthquake.
Defying the limits... Workman [Manuel Sánchez Buitrago, painter, musician and cobbler of Lobatera] hang over the dome in bosun’s chair to tuck point seams on one external large rib of the Lobatera Church in September 1974, for The Parish Bicentennial Celebrations. (Photograph by Manuel Sánchez, 1974/Darío Hurtado, 2021)
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... Defying the heights. Workmen repairs the steep Dome. (Photograph by Darío Hurtado, 2016) |
Moreover, inspired by Martyria architecture (Latin singular noun, martyrium and Greek martyrion) and the Byzantine architecture–synthesizing eastern and western early Christian traditions–is flanked by two pastophoria
(παστοφόρια, lateral or subsidiary chapels) wings and the sacristy building with three rooms, the first room (central) called Priests' sacristy; the second room (right) Servers' sacristy and the third room (left), Work sacristy.
Constructed
of cast iron and reinforced concrete, the polygonal dome of Lobatera Parish Church rises
to a total height of 30 m (98.5 ft high) from the floor of the High altar to
the top of the external cross and shapes the environment within which Lobateran
people, mostly non-expert in matter architectural, conduct their everyday live.
This old-fashioned design is perceived by authors like Hoffmann as “a cosmological
reference”, the cube and the sphere. The cube symbolizes the order of the
universe and the sphere symbolizes its physical form. (Hoffmann,V., Der Geometrische
Entwurf der Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, Peter Lang, Berlin,Germany, 2005)
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Hail, chime on, chime on... The Lobatera Church Clock Dials (since 1913). Each dial contains separate pieces of pot opal glass, a type of glass with an opaque finish.
The hour figure of four o'clock is shown by the Roman numeral IIII, rather than IV, as is more very often used on clock dials. (Photograph by Darío Hurtado, 2013). |
Eight independent supporting arches -heavy ribs- and masonry webbing mould its exterior shape and this echoes the interior eight-sided vault. The vaulted ceilings of Lobatera Church were done without wood-frame or iron-frame, allowing to observe directly these artistic ceilings from the outside.
A whole structural and aesthetic design provides continuous supportability: arches and pendentives support the weight and thrust of the ribbed dome and transfer the load to piers and foundations. In this respect, it is said that Anthemius of Tralles (c. 474 - c. 534) Byzantine mathematician and architect, metaphorically wrote, ΄The arch never ever sleeps΄ because the arch permanently shoves against its vertical and structural supports, and this is one of the lynchpins of the architecture and structural design.
An insights into the functional structure and examined the inter-relationships between ecclesiastical architecture, liturgical design and old ceremonies in Lobatera Parish Church, we encounter that the dome –built between 1949 and 1952- was designed to admit an eastern light shaft on the High altar, through one of the East facing drum windows, on a significant time of ancient Roman Catholic liturgical days (solemnities, feasts, and memorials) in the Latin and Eastern Rite (before the Second Vatican Council changes, 1962-1965).
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Inside the dome... over and above the iconic shape. The perceived greatness of Our Lady of the
Rosary of Chiquinquirá de Lobatera’s Church dome–from the inside–is a product of the perfect harmony of austere forms
and geometry. According to Byzantine architecture and Biblical symbolism, all cubic shape represented the renewed Earth and the circular shape of the dome the unending movement of God. (Photograph by Samir Sánchez, 2013) |
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Looking up at
the great dome -and Lady Chapel- of Our Lady of the Rosary of Chiquinquirá of
Lobatera's Church. The arches that support this dome are angled over four
compound piers, taking the thrust of the high-rise masonry along their length.
The arches and pendentives support the weight of the ribbed dome and transfer
the load to piers and foundations. In this respect, it is said that Anthemius
of Tralles Byzantine architect, metaphorically wrote, ΄The
arch never ever sleeps΄ because the arch permanently shoves
against its vertical and structural supports. This is one of the lynchpins of architecture and structural design. (Photograph by Darío Hurtado,
2016)
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According to the earliest form of the celebration of the Mass -in its solemn form (High Mass)-, a significant time was the third hour of day, Missam de Tertia or Tertia Hora (Canonical hours), during which the Holy Ghost, e.g., present-day Epiclesis of sanctification: 'we pray, by sending down your Spirit upon them like the dew-fall, so that they may become for us the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ' descended to sanctify the offerings –the Offertory- presented to the Lord, the Almighty by the priest in front of the High altar, in missa (in Mass). This central liturgical rite necessitated the incidence of a light shaft -in bright, orange to yellow- on the offerings resembling the descent of the Holy Spirit.
In order for this to occur, the dome orientation (windows) was determined by the old liturgical timekeeping method. The third hour
corresponded always to the middle of the morning (9:00 am). Thus, the morning sunlight
or radiant beam light falling towards the High altar in the manner outlined
above and the smoke of burning incense, were combined to create a spiritual and sacred effect
of a continuous shines brightly as a symbol of the prayer of the faithful rising to God.
Sunrise over Dome... Lobatera | © Darío Hurtado, 2021/Facebook
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The Great Dome of Lobatera Parish Church stands lonely among buildings and landscapes. A
famous image that became a Lobateran symbol. (Photograph by Darío Hurtado, 2016) |
At key moment... sunrise and inspiration. Roman Catholic Church dedicated to Our Lady of the Rosary of Chiquinquirá (‘Nuestra Señora del Rosario de Chiquinquirá’, Spanish name) in Lobatera (Táchira State - Venezuela). Photograph by Darío Hurtado, 2020.
Night picture... Lobatera Parish House. (Photograph by Darío Hurtado, 2020)
Serene on the inside...
Our Lady of the Rosary of Chiquinquirá’s Parish Church is one of the earliest examples of Tachiran Romanesque
revival architecture and an excellent example of the basilica form with rectangular apse, and similar structure to Romanesque Roman Catholic Cathedral of Šibenik City ('Katedrala sv. Jakova', Cathedral of St. James), south-western
Croatia, begun early 15th-century.
The
geometry of the main floor plan is shaped like a Latin cross, with a long and
high nave. The basic design or diagram of Lobatera Parish Church stars with
a rectangle and one circle such as the Church of Panagia Chalkeon, Thessaloniki; an 11th-century Byzantine church in the northern Greek with a cross-in-square
or crossed-dome plan, and the
Romanesque Basilica-Abbey of Saint-Sernin (Toulouse, France), ca. AD 1080.
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Dominating the skyline of Lobatera, the facade of the Parish Church was artistically illuminated... a success response that addresses the impact of this architectural heritage over town. (Photograph by Darío Hurtado, 2016) |
Monumental,
witty even, the outside is fine for architectural studies. It looks like a hierarchically additive ordering of volumes
expressive of the interior spatial order, displaying the modular additive
composition of Romanesque volumetric arris or groin vault modules or bays.
The interior is divided in three long spaces: nave and aisles, and eight chapels all right-angled. There exists an early
Tachiran example (in religious large structures) of the use of mathematical
precision: all chapels –formed by barrelled or tunnel, and square groined
vault- are unvarying, uniforms; all chapels have bilateral symmetry, and they
are proportionally integrated (according to their size) and related with the nave
and aisles. In a certain sense, these chapels are probably a didactic work of
art about the revival of classical forms of an architecture and design based on
proportion, perspective and mathematics into conformity with the old style of 15th-century
Italian architect Filippo Brunelleschi.
The baptismal font of the Church of Lobatera is 90 centimeters in diameter. It is an American religious art (made in the USA in 1917) influenced by Romanesque or Medieval and Gothic art. The upper part of the vase is decorated with the St John the Baptist and Jesus sculptures. In the lower part there is a series of elongated segments in the form of petals and acanthus that arise from the base and canopies with the four evangelists sculptures and tetramorphes. Fortunately, in 2006 this piece was recovered during the works of consolidation and restoration of sacred images. (Photograph by Darío Hurtado, 2017)
The nave consists of a long series of square bays or segments, and the lower vaults of the aisles are doubled up, two to each nave bay, to conform to these volumes. This long central part –of seven modules- and lower side aisles
(with lunettes and quarter-round barrel vaults or kind buttress of solid structure as continuous
support system for nave) were covered with groin vaults supported on transverse
arches, arcades with half-round arches and Roman Doric fluted columns and noble pilasters with heavy grooves. All groin
vaults have sculptured oak leaves rosette keystones. In mediaeval construction time, the oak leaves were associated with strength and endurance.
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The behavior of candles
light in the interior of the magnificent structure of the Lobatera Church and
its Romanesque revival architecture. The lighting of the paschal
candle is a traditional Easter observance in the Lobatera Parish Church, since
1593. The paschal candle is lighted from flint on the night of Holy Saturday
and all other candles in the church are lit by fire from this candle. In the
Roman Catholic religiousness, the paschal candle represents Christ’s person and
its flame symbolizes his resurrection as 'the light of the world' [Ego sum lux
mundi, qui sequitur me, non ambulat in tenebris, sed habebit lumen vitae.
Joannes 8:12]. The passing of the light to the congregation symbolizes Christ’s
giving of his life to his faithful believers. Most solemn Easter service of the
Lobatera Vigil 2017 is depicted and it was observed on the night of Holy
Saturday with the blessing of the new fire. (Photograph by Darío Hurtado, 2017) |
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The Church restored facade
and the Holy Week in Lobatera. Accompanied by marching bands, Lobateran Roman Catholic brotherhoods and
penitents carry a statue of Jesus carrying the cross (Spanish baroque sculpture
from AD 1799), during a Great Week procession, Holy Wednesday 2017. (Photograph
by Darío Hurtado, 2017)
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Patronal Festival celebrating the Blessed Virgin Mary of the Rosary of Chiquinquirá, Lobatera, November 18, 2017. Old painting is under safety glass. (Photograph by Darío Hurtado, 2017) |
A sectional axonometric shows three stages of the central nave from a
granite floor: arcade, windows illuminating triphorium (with miniature arcade) and clerestorey windows. They admit natural light for
the creation of an atmosphere supportive of the Divine Office and the
celebration of the Eucharist.
The system of ritual lighting -orientation towards east and west-
involved the nave, aisles, chapels and dome design, as well as the proportions
of the church interior in respect to the way its various spaces ought to be
viewed. So, on entering the church there is a controlled tropical light with contrast
between light and shade, particularly between the nave, side aisles and
chapels. It is important to highlight that each chapels has a decorative and elaborate rose window or wheel window (no glass) with twelve little circles above it.
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Like other basilicas of the Christianity, the centrepiece of the church is the High altar and Lady Chapel... Lobatera Parish Church interior, Romanesque revival High altar (directly under the centre of the dome, saint martyrs Theophanous, Perpetua, Gaudius and Heliodorus of Pamphylia relics are
inserted in the altar stone or 'Mensa Domini'), bema and Lady Chapel with Aedicule divided in pediment, tympanum, ornate frieze with tablet-flowers, Roman Doric capital and pedestal. (Photograph by Darío Hurtado, Saint Lucia or Saint Lucy's Day, 13 December 2014) |
This appears to be due in part to the opacity of coloured
stained glass [not many, but enough. Made in 1967, in Cali, Casa Velasco Vitrales, since 1948] of aisle windows, in contrast with rosette or Catherine window of the front
facade, and half-pointed arched windows of triphorium and clerestorey (such as Roman thermal windows) defined by semi-circular opening with internal semicircular rose windows.
Heavenly illumination or the spiritual and mysterious quality of light… The Lobatera Parish Church windows with stained glass (Photograph by Engr. Kevin Vásquez, 2016).
In this context, part of the remarkable and exemplary Romanesque revival
style stained glass in Táchira State, can be seen as its medieval creators
intended the light transmitted through translucent glasses, in Lobatera Parish
Church. Spreading vivid colours and wonderful characterization over a delicate
and vulnerable glass, mounted in a metal framework, the 20 aisles windows show
the use of the biblical and mystical symbolism and the Early Christian Art symbols.
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Sunshine in white, yellow and blue... the restored Our Lady of the Rosary of Chiquinquirá's Church, Lobatera. (Photograph by Darío Hurtado, 2017) |
The
windows were treated as complementary pairs and the stained glasses are
integrated with the architecture. They depict the still waters (Psalm 23); lilies
of the valley (Song of Solomon); dove (Mark 1:10); a whirlwind and tongues of
fire (Acts 2); bread and wine (Luke 22:17-20) of Eucharistic doctrine;
grapevines and sheaves (Exodus 39:24); censers and cruets (Exodus 30:7-10); fishes;
crosses and lambs, and the combined Greek letters chi and rho (Χ and Ρ, the
first two letters of the Greek spelling of Christ, as a monogram). All these shapes
were made with a highly sense of composition and colour.
For that matter, a St. John of Damascus's remark explains: 'The image is a memorial, just what words are to a listening ear. What a book is to literate, than an image is to the illiterate. The image speaks to the sight as words to ear; it brings us understanding.' (M.H. Allies, St. John Damascene on Holy Images, London and Philadelphia, 1898, p. 19, Migne, PG, XCIV, col. 1248)
Therefore, ritual space, image and divinity were explained -equally- in a
treatise by Procopius of Caesarea (500–565), De Aedificiis
(On the Buildings, Book I, 61). He describes this architecture and this liturgical design as:
And whenever anyone enters this church to pray, he understands
at once that it is not by any human power or skill, but by the influence of
God, that this work has been so finely turned. And so his mind is lifted up
toward God and exalted, feeling that He cannot be far away, but must especially
love to dwell in this place which He has chosen.
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Soaring
height and unity of style... The Lobatera Parish Church building's interior exhibits a severe purity of line. It is divided -from axial 'altar de la Virgen de Chiquinquirá' (Lady Chapel)- in three long spaces with nave arcades, groin vaults and transverse arches; aisles with quarter-round barrel vaults and transverse arches, and eight chapels with barrel vaults, all right-angled. There is a controlled light with contrast between light and shade, particularly between the nave, side aisles and chapels -and surmount the stringcourses- through the clerestorey windows, windows illuminating triphorium (with miniature arcade) and aisle windows. In 2014 the old Via Crucis (American high relief medallions from 1917) or set of fourteen scenes that represent the stations of the Way of the Cross were placed on the sprandels of nave walls. (Photograph by Darío Hurtado, 2016)
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Restoration... shows a town waking up to the History
Our Lady of the Rosary of
Chiquinquirá’s Parish Church has spent the past 4 months (August-November 2016)
in scaffolding for refurbishment purposes, and now is fully visible again to keep it standing for the next several hundred years. So then
the painstaking job of restoration of Lobatera Church -one of the most famous
facades in the Táchira State and iconic legend of old Tachiran ecclesiastical
architecture- is finally over. This
building has re-entered the Tachiran culture now.
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Repair of an ornamental and mixtilinear moulding (facade lobed frame) badly damaged. (Photograph by Darío Hurtado, 2016) |
A project of further refurbishment and maintenance began in 2012 by Parish Priest Oscar Fuenmayor and
it received strong feedback from the national, regional and
local Governments in 2016. The Conservation Architect Sonia Becerra van der
Linden directed and inspected the restoration work. The works were preceded by
a comprehensive condition survey and conservation report that
restored many architectural details to their original splendor.
The design solution
included the complete re-roofing of the facade and the replacement of
inappropriate polychromy and cement external render with lime render, i.e., the work needed reflects the age of the facade: an old religious fabric
early 20th-century.
Triglyphs and metopes with pelta (a small crescent-shaped Thracian shield, Ancient Greece). The Lobatera Parochial Church pelta (from Latin, nominative plural peltae. In Greek mythology, small shield carried by Amazons, a race of warlike women. They were trained as archers for war) has a Renaissance desing, resembling a wide shield (with fleur-de-lis), with sides swooping up and returning eagles, or ram-heads, and covered by it two arms: mediaeval sword and halberd or helmbart. (Photograph by Darío Hurtado, 2016)
E.g. Magnificent Roman marble stone (2nd century) with pelta, escutcheons and swords with sharp back edge near point (Photograph by Museo de Historia, Arqueología y Etnografía [since 1999]. Cárcel Real de Coria, Coria [Caurium, ancient Roman town in Hispania Ulterior], Extremadura, Spain).
Restoration work
included transforming the blackened and damaged main front or facade (its
exterior was cleansed of decades of dirt, humidity, dust, grime and pollution) of the church,
decoration running along the wall and twin towers with new paint and classical
moulding, to allow the patina of the building's history to remain inside, and the grillework crosses over the Roman
towers were gilded.
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Sketches
or drawings for the Lobatera Paris Church towers polychrome restoration work,
with the more important details and the minor details. (Photographs and layout by Arch. Sonia Becerra van der
Linden and Arch. Hubert
van der Linden, 2016; ExpArt graphic) |
Other work included cleaning and repair of the exterior walls, ceilings
and dome. The exterior had been transformed by state-of-the-art conservation
techniques; it was reconstructed from its parts, painted and brought to life
newly by light 'flooding' the building.
'I am who I am...' Cornice dentil band and relief known as the All-seeing eye of Divine
Providence, is depicted on the tympanum. All-seeing eye is a Renaissance ornament originated in Solomon's Prayer of Dedication: ‘Ut sint oculi tui aperti super
domum hanc nocte et die super domum de qua dixisti erit nomem meum ibi - That
your eyes may be open toward this house night and day, even toward the place of
which you have said, My Name shall be there: that you may hearken unto the
prayer which your servant shall make toward this place.’ (1 Kings 8:29. Biblia Sacra juxta Vulgatam
Clementinam). Also, Paul
wrote: ‘Et non est ulla creatura invisibilis in conspectu eius omnia
autem nuda et
aperta sunt oculis
eius ad quem
nobis sermo - Neither is there
any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and
opened unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do’ (Hebrews 4:13. Biblia Sacra juxta Vulgatam
Clementinam). Photograph by Darío Hurtado, 2016.
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Epilogue: Sight lines of an artistic and architectural lesson
Preserving the knowledge of this masterpiece of the Cultural Heritage of the Church -and Táchira State-, was always the foremost objective of the Experience-Art Project. This is an artistic and architectural lesson we have to continuously teach ourselves and part of our culture preserved, as bequest, for generations to come.
In
sum, Our Lady of the Rosary of Chiquinquirá's Parish Church was itself built as act of faith -religious, architectural, engineering-; is
at once a prayer and our collective life enshrined in stone and brick; it is one of the
greatest oeuvres in Tachiran art. Indeed, it epitomizes a symbiosis -holy- of
medieval art and classical design; an example of geometrical construction;
sophisticated understanding of light behavior; and spiritual and cosmological
knowledge combined to create a magnificent structure of the Romanesque revival
or inspired building by Romanesque architecture.
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Research of historical accumulation of the remains of successive ancient coats of paint (samples were taken for polychrome stratigraphic from different places) taken off from the original polychrome, applied to surface on outside of the
Lobatera Parish Church facade from 1908 to 2004, in this manner the original polychromy was
established. (Photograph by Arch. Sonia Becerra van der Linden and Arch. Hubert van
der Linden, 2016) |
In this way, the last restoration procedure has revealed its impressive beauty. Paraphrasing Laurence B.
Anderson (Architecture [Building], 2009), this church still survives not only
as beautiful object, but as document of the history of Tachiran culture,
achievements in architecture that testify to the nature of the society that
produced them.
The restoration team
Mr.
Héctor Alfonso Rojas Contreras, Conservator and Murals expert.
Héctor
Aarón Rojas Jr., Assistant Conservator.
Mr.
Ramiro Quintana Cárdenas, Crafts worker builder and specialist bricklayer.
Mr. Euro Durán, Plastic artist.
Arch. Sonia Becerra van der Linden,
Professional architectural preservationist.
Arch.
Huber van der Linden, Professional architectural preservationist and
draughtsman.
Prof. Samir A. Sánchez, Art Historian.
On 24 March 2017, this landmark and single building was reopened...
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Standing proud... Lobatera Parish Church following the last stage of restoration.(Photograph by Darío Hurtado, 2016) |
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Under traditional Spanish colonial-style eaves... Dominating
the southern setting with a massive and volumetric body, the Lobatera Parish
Church -and its sacristy- is formed by a heavy and angular nave surmounted by an imposing dome,
stretching the full width to give the impression of Romanesque revival monumentality. (Photograph by Darío Hurtado, 2016)
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΄For Love is of the valley, come thou down...΄ (Alfred Tennyson, 1809-1892) This original photography captures the brilliant and golden lights of a Tachiran sunrise and the Romanesque forms of the Lobatera Parochial Church architecture—Church and old town rise from the little valley (foreground, centre). In the background, the western mounts and Andean bleak deserts of Laguna del Buitrón, Los Corrales, La Cuja and Cabeza de Vaca climbs up the steep-side Valley of Lobatera. (Photograph by Jhonn Benítez Colmenares, Lobatera, 2017) |
The Tachiran mist blear and allows to know the dimensions of the towers and the dome (Photograph by Carlos Alviárez Porras, Lobatera, March 3, 2022).
_________________________________________
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A Window to the Past...
Pbr. Pedro María Morales Gómez (1876-1925). By the end of the 19th century, the old Parish Church of Lobatera had fallen into disrepair. At the same time, the Pbr. Morales considered rebuilding, or at least making radical changes in 1905. Father Morales commissioned work on the building to Master builder Jesús Uzcátegui, who will design a classical plan for an entirely new church, or an extreme modification of the old building and its architecture between 1905 and 1914. (Photography by Samir A. Sánchez, Lobatera Parish House, 1997).
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| The light -row material of photography- to be caught in this centenarian image, like an instant stolen from the time; impression created by a combination of light, Spanish colonial architecture and solitude... Earliest known photograph of Lobatera and its Parish Church, taken 1900. It looked following the construction of 1875. (Photograph by Francisco Cárdenas B., 1900. Owner of oldest photograph Carlos Alviárez Sarmiento, 2003) |
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Oldest Lobatera knew photograph -from 1900- was restored by Darío Hurtado, 2011.
Old Roman Catholic congregational hymns and liturgical songs. Lobatera Parish Church (1920). 'Hymn to Saint Joseph, patron saint of childhood. Don Jesús María Pino, Church organist and Master Chapel of Lobatera Parish Church, 1950. (Photograph by Darío Hurtado, 2020)
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Lobatera Church Past to Present... Inside old church AD 1925. The multiple crosses, as sepulchral memorial monument inside Lobatera old church, reminded nine days later, the ‘Sucre’ Steamship Disaster, one of the worst disasters in Lobatera history. The ‘Sucre’ Steamship on its voyage from Encontrados fluvial port to Maracaibo City capsize and sank in Aguas Muertas inlet (a narrow opening in Lake Maracaibo south-west coastline) -just 10:00 pm on March 12, 1925- when ‘a wall of strong wind and stormy water’ hit the steamship as survivors termed. Of the more than 25 persons aboard (including crew members), about 14 died, all from Lobatera. Each cross has their name with initialism e.g. R.V.P for Mr. Ramón Vivas Pérez or A.C.S. for Mrs. Agustina Colmenares de Sánchez (distant relative of whom it wrote). Photograph owner Carlos Alviárez Sarmiento, 2018.
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The Old Chapel of Saint Leocadia,
known locally as the "Capilla de Santa Leocadia", was built in 1916
as a votive offering chapel for the Lobatera Parish Church by Dr. Ezequiel
Vivas Sánchez (1864-1919), Private Secretary to President Juan Vicente Gómez, 39th, 42nd and 44th
President of Venezuela. This chapel -with neo-Baroque structure- was demolished
in 1961. The Spanish polychromed wooden sculpture, which depicts the 3rd
-century Christian woman martyr known St. Leocadia, is of the Spanish Olot Art
School (Escola d'Art d'Olot), from 19th-century. The marble statue group -left side- titled 'Jesus prayer in Gethsemane' was produced by the hands of an Italian artist, Emilio Gariboldi, in Caracas (Photograph by María Lozada de Mora, 1892-1993, and Wilmer Antonio Rey Lozada, 2020)
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Old facade and image of Lobatera bullfight. Amateurs enter
bullring. Annual fair since AD 1774. (Lobatera Fair 1938, photograph by Vilma Zambrano, 2017)
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Old outdoor sculptures of Our Lady of the Rosary, St. Andrew the Apostle and St. Anthony of Padua, made of stone and clay by Jesús Uzcátegui and blessed in July 5, 1914. These sculptures were destroyed during the remodelling of Lobatera's church in the early 1960s. Old image from 1958. (Photo enlarge by Darío Hurtado, 2017)
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The Main Facade of Lobatera Parish Church former building in 1947. The reconstruction works of 1967 preserved major parts of the outer features of the original facade of 1908. (Photograph by Archivo General del Estado/The Táchira State Archives, 1947. Colorized historical photo by Santiago Xavier Sánchez, 2022)
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Elevated view of the Lobatera Parish Church building as dome under construction, 1950. (Photograph by Carlos Alviárez Sarmiento/Darío Hurtado, 2018) |
| New & Old in Lobatera church architecture, 1955. (Photograph by Orlando Ruiz Díaz, 2018) |
Architecture in context, new buildings and old... At the Lobatera Church central nave, the height of the arch is impressing and it shows the magnitude of the work, and protruding corbels from the line of imposts to hold the transversal articulation arches of the vaults (Photograph by Mr. Ricardo Ruiz, Master builder, and his son Orlando Ruiz, c. 1957).
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2017... The
foreground contains the twin towers and ribbed dome of Lobatera Parish Church and
the skyline is ‘El Picacho’ (The Peak), Tachiran Andean Mountain with 2,782.7 m
(9,129.59 ft). Photograph by Darío Hurtado, 2017. |
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Some sights not seen in nearly 50 years...
Recognisable Lobatera sights from a bird’-eye with views over the Parish Church building—top of the groin intersecting vaulted ceiling over the nave and quarter-round barrel vault aisles—, Clergy House and old Churchyard used as graveyards or burial places from 1767 until 1805 (Selection screengrabs from video: Alcaldía del Municipio Lobatera-The Major of Lobatera/DronesTáchira/Darío Hurtado, 2016).
The feast of Our Lady of the Rosary of Chiquinquirá procession (and old gilded wood processional throne for carrying the Marian oil painting. It was used from 1928 to 1984). Lobatera, November 18, 1968. (Photography by Aura Porras de Alviárez/Darío Hurtado, 2020)
Mgr. Manuel García Guerrero (1907-1986). The present-day Romanesque revival building of Lobatera´s Church, was rebuilt by Mgr. Manuel García Guerrero, Parish priest; Fr. Leonardo González C.Ss.R., Architect and Mr. Ricardo Ruiz, Master builder, for Lobatera Parish Second Centennial 1767-1967, and was consecrated by Mgr. Alejandro Fernández Feo, Bishop of San Cristóbal, on November 18, 1967. (Photography by Diario Católico Newspaper, 1956)
___________________________________
The Lobatera Parish Church
in the Fine Art...
Lobatera Valley, oil on canvas 22.04 x 27.55 in (56 x 70 cm). Manuel Cabré (1960). Private Collection.
Lobatera impression, sunrise, oil on canvas 22.04 x 27.55 in (56 x 70 cm). Francisco Lacruz Ruiz (1975). Collection Régulo H. Sánchez.
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Lobatera
at nightfall, acrylic on canvas 25.19 x 33.07 in (64 x 84 cm). Jerson Trejo (1993). Collection Samir A.
Sánchez. |
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The Golden Dome... Church of Lobatera, pastel painting on cardboard, 17.71 x 27.55 in (45 x 70 cm). Francisco Rivero Mendoza (1996). Collection Francisco Rivero Mendoza. |
Nightly Old Lobatera... Acrylic on canvas 25.19 x 33.07 in (64 x 84 cm). Jerson Trejo (1998)
____________________________________________________
Venezuela Heritage of Cultural Interest
The Lobatera Parish Church is a Monument of national value and
historical landmark (Venezuela Heritage of Cultural Interest, National Heritage
Catalogue 2004-2010/TA 17-18/p. 10. Official Gazette 38,234. Caracas, February
20, 2005).
Bibliography
Alberti, Leon Battista, The Architecture of Leon Battista Alberti in Ten Books, Printed by Edward Owen, London, 1755; Bishops' Conference of England and Wales, Biblia Sacra juxta Vulgatam Clementinam, CBCEW (2006). James Stevens Curl and Susan Wilson, The Oxford Dictionary of Architecture, Oxford, Oxford University Press (2015). Samir Sánchez, Muros de piedra y fe, San Cristóbal, Universidad Católica del Táchira, N° 11 (2000); William R. Ware, The American Vignola: A Guide to the Making of Classical Architecture, 1906. University of Michigan, Digitizing sponsor Google Book (2009); Philip II and the Escorial: technology and the representation of architecture: an exhibition by the Department of Art, Brown University, January 27 through March 4, 1990, David Winton Bell Gallery, List Art Center Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island.
©
Proyecto Experiencia Arte | Experience Art Project 2012-2016. Some
rights reserved. Copyright of texts, graphic works and photos belong to
each researcher, photographer/office mentioned.
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