Church of Saint Mary of Eunate

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Santa María de Eunate

The Church of Saint Mary of Eunate is a 12th century Romanesque church located about 2 km south-east of Muruzábal, Navarre, Spain, on the Way of Saint James. Its origins are discussed due to lack of documentation. Its octagonal plan and the fact that it is not located in a present-day village or town but in countryside contribute to its enigmatic nature.

The church is built of dressed stone, its plan is a slightly irregular octagon with a little three-side apse. It presents the typical architectural features of the European Romanesque art (dressed-stone masonry, robust walls, semicircular arches, little windows made of alabaster, etc.) as well as some other local characteristics of the Romanesque in Navarre and Aragon, like the chessboard-shape decoration.

Its eight walls sustain an eight-rib vault, inspired in Cordova's caliphate art. This structure is very similar to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre of Torres del Río, Navarre, 55 km far from Eunate and also on the Way of Saint James. The whole building is surrounded by arches that had been recently partially reconstructed. It is not sure that those arches were built at the same time that the church. It may be built centuries later using rests of a hypothetical disappeared cloister.

Today the church is a hermitage dedicated to the Virgin Mary and people from all the Valdizarbe valley use to celebrate there a traditional romería. This function is the only unquestionable known use of the building as it is the only that is documented. The early documented reference to Eunate dates from 1487 and refers to a sodality devoted to the Virgin of Eunate. Nevertheless, the characteristics of the building, its location on the Way of Saint James and the comparison with other coetaneous religious buildings demands further explanation about the origin of the church.

Since late 19th century, there have been several theories about the original function and authorship of Eunate. Due to its octagonal plan, the first theories stated that Eunate was a Templar church, related with other central plan churches like the above mentioned Holy Sepulchre of Torres del Río, and undoubtedly Templar buildings like the Templar convent of Tomar, the Temple Church of London or the Holy Sepulchre of Pisa, all of them inspired in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem. This alleged Templar origin and the aura of mystery that surrounds the church have contributed to esoteric interpretations. Nevertheless, the presence of Knights Templar in this zone of Navarre is not documented, but it is very well known the importance of other military order, the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem or Knights Hospitaller, that could hold a hospital ('hostel') for pilgrims to Santiago. Archaeological excavations have found many burials and the typical St. James' shells.

[edit] Bibliography

Fernández-Ladreda, Clara; Martínez de Aguirre, Javier; Martínez Álava, Carlos J.: El arte románico en Navarra, Pamplona: Gobierno de Navarra, 2002
García-Gaínza, Concepción (dir.): Catálogo monumental de Navarra, Pamplona: Institución Príncipe de Viana, 1996, vol. V-2, pp. 325-337.
Sutter, Heribert: Form und Ikonologie spanischer Zentralbauten: Torres del Rio, Segovia, Eunate, Weimar: VDG, 1997