18th century
This chapel is a good example of religious popular architecture from the end of the 18th century. It is endowed with simple and harmonious features crowned by a dome and a bell gable. Its interior is made up of a square chapel covered by the dome and a rectangular entrance hall. Separating both spaces there is a semi-circular arch over a dividing iron fence. A little sacristy on one side completes the work.
The inside, made of whitewashed bare walls, allows for just one piece of decoration: a gilded altarpiece covering most of the east wall, serving as a showcase for most of the images taking part at the Easter processions and ceremonies in Peraleda.
The former altarpiece was made in a post-churrigueresque style, a Spanish version of the Baroque after the fashion of Churriguera, one of our most important architects. But its beauty was disputed and when it fell in need of repair people preferred to order a new one, Baroque and completely gilded like the one at the parish church, topped by a wooden representation of Christ on the cross with Mary and John on either side.
In the 19th century the parish church ran out of space for burials inside or around it, so this chapel was naturally chosen to host the new cemetery which was built in its back. This graveyard was active until 1962, when most of the mortal remains were transferred to the present cemetery and the place refurbished to serve as the playground for the schools existing next to it.
This chapel plays an important role during Easter celebrations, but it is also the headquarters of two brotherhoods and, most of all, it hosts the image of the patron saint of this village, the Holy Christ of Humility, attracting devotion both from inside and outside this town.
The original sculpture of this Christ was a life-sized wooden carving of high quality and beauty from the 17th century, but being the patron saint, it was badly abused by atheist troops during the last Civil War. After the war it was patched up but its poor condition lead to the decision of buying a new image of similar characteristics in 1967.
The Christ at the Column sculpture was bought in 1951 and has no great artistic value but surpasses all the others in beauty and realism, showing an astonishing paint work which makes it look almost human.
The Agony in the Garden is a sculptural group bought six years later to round off the Easter processions repertoire and thus increasing the value of Peraleda’s Holy Week festivities, one of the oldest and most celebrated in the whole province.
The rest of images hosted in this chapel are wooden sculptures which survived the destruction of the Civil War.
The Risen Christ was bought in 1917 and it is the only image which is not life-size, but smaller, around 1 metre tall. It matches a wooden sculpture of the Virgin Mary in the church. Together they have part in the Procession of Easter Sunday, taking place in this little square nearby, where both sculptures run to meet, so size and weight must be reduced.
The Lady of Sorrows is a Castilian sculpture from the 18th century showing fine finish and grief-stricken features. Unfortunately its true quality partly lies under a coat of restauration carried out in 2003. It also takes part in some of the most important processions of Peraleda’s Easter.
The Dead Christ, cased inside a glass coffin embedded into the altarpiece, is an articulated Christ going back to 1610. Made by Tomas de la Huerta, this is the most valuable sculpture of all and the key element in the Deposition of the Cross, the crowning ceremony of our Holy Week traditions. This intense and moving ceremony takes place on Good Friday and goes back almost to the Council of Trent in the 16th century. Peraleda is one of the few places left which still represent this old tradition of taking Jesus down the cross and burying him solemnly and it is one of the key reasons that make our Holy Week one of the most authentic, old and fascinating celebrations of all the province.
Location:
Escrito por Angel Castaño
