CHURCH OF VERA CRUZ

The Confraternity of Vera Cruz in Salamanca is a religious institution whose foundation dates back to the 13th century, promoted by the Franciscans under the name of the Congregation of the Penance of Christ. From its origins, it combined penitential practice with a remarkable welfare work, managing a hospital for the poor, sick, and pilgrims, which was absorbed in 1581 by the General Hospital of the Holy Trinity.

During the 16th century, it was officially constituted as the Confraternity of the Holy Cross and, after its merger in 1527 with the Confraternity of the Immaculate Conception, it adopted its dual patronage.

The chapel was built in the second half of that century following the design of Rodrigo Gil de Hontañón, gradually becoming a space of great artistic and spiritual value. In 1576, King Philip II granted it the exclusive privilege of organizing Holy Week processions in Salamanca, a prerogative it held until the early 20th century. Subsequently, in the 18th century, the church was rebuilt by Joaquín de Churriguera, who also erected a wayside shrine in the vicinity of the temple. Throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, the confraternity established liturgical acts that still today constitute essential elements of Salamanca's Good Friday, such as the Act of the Descent from the Cross and the Procession of the Holy Burial.

During the Peninsular War and the disentailment of the 19th century, the confraternity suffered significant patrimonial losses. However, it experienced a rebirth at the end of that century, driven by the growing devotion to the image of the Dolorosa (Our Lady of Sorrows), a work by Felipe del Corral. In 1922, a new chapel was built for this image, thanks to the patronage of Doña Gonzala Santana, the "Golden Chick".

Between 1952 and 2018, the temple was entrusted to the Slaves of the Most Holy Sacrament, who practiced continuous adoration of the Eucharist. Their presence, marked by introspection and the purity of their white habit, conferred a deeply mystical atmosphere to the temple.

In 2006, on the occasion of its 5th centenary, the Confraternity of Vera Cruz received the city's Gold Medal, in recognition of its valuable spiritual, artistic, and social legacy in Salamanca.

The current building is the result of successive renovations carried out over the centuries. The church was commissioned by the confraternity in the 16th century, following the original design by Rodrigo Gil de Hontañón, although the final execution is attributed to Martín Navarro. Of the 16th-century temple, only the facade remains, presided over by a semicircular arch flanked by fluted columns. In the central niche there is a sculpture of the Virgin and Child, a work by Sebastián de Ávila. The spandrels of the arch house two coats of arms with the Franciscan emblem of the five wounds, now almost lost.

The current church is the result of the renovation carried out by Joaquín de Churriguera between 1713 and 1714. On the exterior of the apse, facing Calle Sorias, two 'camarín' windows with Baroque ornamentation stand out. One corresponds to the main chapel of the temple and the other to the Chapel of the Virgin of Sorrows. It has a single, rectangular nave, covered with a barrel vault with lunettes and a blind dome raised on pendentives. The simplicity of the exterior contrasts with the interior, all covered in exuberant Baroque ornamentation. Among the gilded rocaille, medallions with symbols recalling the double dedication of the temple to the Passion of Christ and the Virgin are intertwined. More than a hundred seraphim appear distributed throughout the temple, in allusion to the confraternity's birth under the protection of the Franciscan order. When Emilia Pardo Bazán visited the church in 1905, she said it was like a bonbonnière, “the dressing table of the queen of heaven”.

Upon entering the temple, all eyes are drawn to the main altarpiece. The central camarín was reserved for the most valuable work preserved in the temple, the Immaculate Conception by Gregorio Fernández (1620). Attached to the presbytery is the old sacristy, which has housed since the 18th century the image of the Virgin of Sorrows, sculpted by Felipe del Corral in 1718. The altarpiece, altar, and camarín of the Virgin of Sorrows are in Modernist style. They were made in 1924 by the Salesian schools of Sarriá (Barcelona).

At the foot of the church, above the choir, a large painted canvas narrates the two trials of Christ -religious and political- with a multitude of characters who intervene with the theatricality typical of the Baroque period through cartouches with their dialogues.

The church houses a valuable collection of movable art that includes imagery, painting, and gold and silver work from the 17th and 18th centuries. The most notable pieces are:

• The reliquary cross of the Lignum Crucis, with a fragment of the Cross brought from Rome.
• 18th-century altar frontal: it is a small jewel with tortoise shell-framed mirrors on which scenes from the Life of Jesus and the Virgin have been painted.
• A valuable Hispano-Filipino ivory with the scene of The Lance serves as the tabernacle door.

The confraternity also possesses an important collection of processional floats that represent key scenes from the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Christ. Among them, the following stand out:

• The Scourging of the Savior, popularly known as “Culo Colorao” (Red Ass) due to the distinctive red trousers of one of the executioners, was sculpted by Alejandro Carnicero around 1724.
• Ecce Homo or “The Cane”, is another sculptural group attributed to Carnicero, although its authorship has been debated. One of the executioners in the group, with a toothless mouth, has given rise to the nickname “Mousetrap Mouth”.
• The Nazareno Chico (Little Nazarene) is a dressed image showing Jesus carrying the cross. Since 1985, this float has been carried exclusively by women.
• The Fall is a set of five figures depicting Christ collapsed under the weight of the cross, accompanied by Simon of Cyrene and Veronica.
• Finally, Resurrected Jesus, attributed to Carnicero or Villabrille y Ron, shows Christ in glory carrying a standard with the Mystic Lamb. This float is the centerpiece of the Procession of the Encounter on Easter Sunday.