CHURCH OF SANTA MARÍA DE LOS CABALLEROS

An old parish founded in 1194, in the territory of the Castilian Christian reconquerors. According to an old inscription preserved inside, it was consecrated in 1214 with the name Santa María la Nueva (Saint Mary the New) to distinguish it from Santa María de la Sede of the Old Cathedral. The current name, Santa María de los Caballeros, dates back to the 14th century.

Nothing remains of the original Romanesque temple, which was completely remodeled in the 16th and 18th centuries. In 1742, the image of Our Lady of the Rosary was placed on the altarpiece. It was then that the camarín chapel was built, to which the Baroque window visible at the church's chancel end belongs. With the parish reform, carried out by Father Cámara in the late 19th century, Santa María ceased to be a parish and was annexed to the Church of La Purísima. Shortly after, it was granted in usufruct to the Adoratrice Sisters, Slaves of the Blessed Sacrament, who built their convent attached to this church. In 2000, the Adoratrices left the convent, and the church was closed for worship. For a few years, it was used as a warehouse and, on some occasions, as an exhibition hall. In 2009, the Orthodox Bishop of Spain and Portugal requested a church from the Diocese of Salamanca to celebrate mass according to the Romanian Orthodox rite. The diocese granted him this church, which then became the parish for the Romanian Orthodox community based in Salamanca. It is dedicated to Saint Basil the Great, one of the Fathers of the Eastern Church.

THE PORTAL
The portal opens on its southern facade, on Calle de las Úrsulas. It has a semicircular arch over which a shell-shaped niche opens, containing a beautiful image of the Immaculate Conception. The Virgin holds the child in her arms, is crowned, and is covered with a wide mantle showing traces of blue pigments. In the spandrels of the arch, there are two angels holding a crown. Above the entablature, there is a triangular pediment housing the figure of the Eternal Father, with the orb in his left hand and in a blessing posture with his right. Below the niche is the date 1581, corresponding to the reconstruction of the church.

TEMPLE INTERIOR
The temple has three naves, the central one being taller and wider than the side ones. The semicircular arches rest on thick columns with Corinthian capitals. The central nave is covered with a barrel vault with lunettes, and the side naves with half-barrel vaults, built in the 18th century with plastered brick. At the foot of the church, the choir is raised, supported by a depressed arch.

The main chapel has a beautiful octagonal coffered ceiling, with eight-point knots, resting on pendentives with rhomboidal coffers. In the almizate (central panel), it features the dove of the Holy Spirit, and on the arrocabe (lintel), a Renaissance balustrade.

The main altarpiece is in the Mannerist style. It dates from 1596 and is the work of artists Alonso Falcote and Juan de Montejo. It consists of a predella, two tiers, and an attic, arranged with a central bay and four side bays. It combines freestanding sculptures and painting. The sculptures occupy the outer bays: from bottom to top, they represent Saint Joseph and Saint Lucy in the first tier; Saint John the Baptist and Saint James in the central tier, and the archangels Saint Michael and Saint Raphael in the attic, flanking the Calvary. The canvases are attributed to the local painter Alonso Rodríguez and represent Saint Peter and Saint Paul in the lower tier and the four Latin Church Fathers in the two upper tiers.

The lower tier features a niche in the center, with a mirror recess. When there was no exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, the niche was covered with a Baroque painting of the Assumption of the Virgin. When the Blessed Sacrament was exposed, it was raised by means of a winch, as if it were a theater curtain. This mechanism is similar to that of the university chapel and is in keeping with the theatricality of the Baroque.
In the central tier, there is the opening for the 'transparente' (a Baroque architectural feature designed to bring light to the Blessed Sacrament), which receives light from outside through the chapel window. It is surrounded by a glory of angels, with the Holy Spirit at the top. Here, the image of Our Lady of the Rosary is venerated. At her feet, she carries the silver crescent moon and two small horses with riders, in memory of the previous dedication to Santa María de los Caballeros (Saint Mary of the Knights). In the 18th century, the dedication was changed and replaced by the image of the Virgin of the Rosary, and it was then that the chapel-camarín was built, whose Baroque window adorns the exterior of the apse.

The central part of the attic is occupied by a magnificent Calvary, with large figures of the Virgin and Saint John. On the sides of the attic, two sculptures represent the archangels Saint Michael, who carries the scales to weigh souls in his hands and has the devil under his feet, and Saint Gabriel, who appears embracing a large tower, a Marian symbol taken from the Song of Songs.

CURRENT IMAGE
Upon entering this parish today, one breathes the essence of Eastern churches. Several Byzantine icons are placed next to the altar, while the paintings covering the walls represent the Virgin, Christ, the Fathers of the Eastern Church, and numerous saints venerated in the Orthodox church.