SAN MARTIN DE TOURS CHURCH - OTERO DE SARIEGOS

Situation

 Otero de Sariegos (villafáfila district), province of Zamora, Castilla y León, in the western part of the town, from which you can see the entire Salina Grande and Villafáfila in the background and part of the Salinas lagoon.

On the land consolidation map it is located on the map of the Villarrín-Otero joint zone, in polygon 4, in its urban area

Otero de Sariegos has always been a town with a small population, unlike its neighbouring towns such as Villafáfila and Villarrín de Campos.

In the 16th century there were 104 inhabitants, in 1591. 168 inhabitants.

In 1665 it was completely depopulated and its residents went to live elsewhere, the church was demolished.

In 1681 it was repopulated again.

Since 1972 it has been integrated into Villafáfila as a hamlet.

2023 is depopulated for the second time, possibly forever.

Head of the church

Under the patronage of Saint Martin of Tours [1] .

Time

13th century, oldest parts.

Belonging

It could have belonged to the Monastery of Sahagún.

Otero at the beginning of the 15th century belonged to María de Solier, through the purchase of all the vassals and plots of land from various owners, which would include the right of patronage of the church with the presentation of the parish priest, first under the Constables of Castile and then under the Duchy of Frías, which it held until the 19th century.

Belonging to the Bishopric

It belonged to the diocese of Astorga since ancient times, and was included in the archpresbytery of Villafáfila until 1954.

In 1954 it became part of the Bishopric of Zamora.

Citations

Sancto Martino appears documented in the years 930 and 934 and in the apocryphal document of 945 [2] . It was located in Lampreana, near Villa Travessa, with which it was linked by a carrale and next to the “termino vestro de frates” of the monks of Sahagún, which from other documents we know was located near the Salina Grande. This village could correspond to Otero de Sariegos, whose church is under the patronage of San Martín [3] , in the same way the only church located within the medieval fence of Villafáfila had this patronage. We could also place it in one of the plots, bordering the meadow of San Fagunde, where medieval remains appear.

The church already belonged to the Sahagún monastery in 934:

“ ecclesia vestra of Sancto Martino in Lampreana ”.

Perhaps it had been built at their own expense in previous years, or we could venture a hypothesis that the origin of the hagiotoponym must have been a monastic establishment or an ancient church from the Visigoth era, or from the use of the Otero capitals, perhaps to which the Mozarabic or rather late Visigoth capital that serves as a baptismal font in the current church of Otero de Sariegos would belong.

D. Manuel Gómez Moreno [4] during his visit to the church in 1903, in his monumental catalogue of Spain province of Zamora, describes the capital:

“I saw another capital serving as a font in his church, also white marble and Corinthian, with diminished caulicules and veins revealed in its leaves. It resembles others of

Asturias; from the 9th century or earlier” [5] .

Factory Book

16th century.

Description

This church that exists today was previously larger, it already existed as there are references to it in the 11th century and remains from the 13th century are noted, it easily underwent changes in its style and transformations.

In 1665, when Otero de Sariegos was depopulated, it was repopulated in 1681.

In 1682, a hermitage remained in place of the demolished church.

D. Manuel Gómez Moreno tells us about the church:

"It is a remnant of a three-nave building, not earlier than the 16th century, although its door has a pointed arch, with the imposts of its large arches corresponding to the Renaissance.

 “brick” [6] .

The remains of the demolished part were surely reused, as we see in some areas such as the stone in the lower part of the bell tower.

On its northern side, on the outside, some elements seem to indicate that the church was designed with three naves, since the brick arches can be clearly seen in the two longitudinal exterior walls (the longest ones) , between the buttresses.

They may have been the remains of the previous church that stood before Otero de Sariegos was depopulated in 1665, and which was repopulated in 1681 and in place of the demolished church, a hermitage remained, as stated in the accounts of 1682:

“14 reales was the cost of an alb that I bought for the Otero hermitage, as ordered by the Bishop” [7] .

The walled-up arch that closes the current apse preserves remains of paintings that are now on the outside. Another perpendicular arch was also added; this first one was a former arch , so the one that preserves the paintings probably served as a triumphal arch, indicating that the original apse could have been located here. It probably fell into ruin, so it was walled up to preserve the rest of the church and this part was left to fall down.

In this exterior part to the north of the first two arches with buttresses, a small cemetery was built next to it which is still in use. It has a wooden entrance door, crowned with a cross, and from the inside of the cemetery there was a direct access door to the church which is walled up.

To the south of the nave is the bell tower on the left, the main entrance was created in the middle and to the right of the nave, but in an annex building, is the sacristy.

Its bell tower, half downwards, is made of stone, perhaps taken from demolished parts, the rest towards the end is made of brick, the first third has a deepened arch with a cross inside.

The tower is topped with a belfry with two bells. The bell tower is accessed from inside the church.

The bell tower is reached from inside the church via a spiral staircase. When you reach the last step, a trapdoor opens which leads to the inside of the bell tower so you can ring the bells.

The bells are each given a name and are hung from a handcrafted wooden yoke.

The bell called Santa María is the one that is on the right side of the bell tower on the outside and on the left side of the bell tower on the inside. It hangs from a completely hand-made yoke. This bell is intact.

The bell called Mary and Joseph is the one on the right hand side of the bell tower, on the outside. On the left hand side of the bell tower, it had the same bite mark under the lip and the same scar on the left, with a tin sound.

That, when rung by the bell ringer, beneath his feet that subtle creaking of the wood accompanied his steps.

The bell tower from behind (looking at the north face) has a closed mezzanine above the church roof, above which is the place from where the bells are rung, made of wood and covered with a roof.

This bell tower was chosen among others in the province of Zamora where on April 22, 2018 a bell ringing was held in Otero de Sariegos on the occasion of the celebration of the New Year

European Cultural Heritage [8] , which bell ringers from all over the continent want to take advantage of to ask UNESCO to declare manual bell ringing as Cultural Heritage

Intangible of Humanity.

Among the bell ringers who rang the bells was D. Isidro Domínguez Calzada [9] from Villafáfila, by his second surname Calzada [10]  and his fourth Gómez [11]  he was descended from people who lived in Otero de Sariegos, who received the surnames by transmission from his mother D. Esperanza Calzada Gómez.

Also D. Joaquín Alonso Martín [12] who was an altar boy at this church in the years of 1945, when in Spain there were more priests than churches and daily mass in almost all of them, in Otero they lacked a parish priest and it was a priest from Villarrín, Arcadio Flórez, who went by bicycle to Otero to officiate the Eucharists, and D. Joaquín Alonso Martín, who accompanied him on Sundays on the same bike and learned to ring the bells to call the neighbors of Otero to mass while Don Arcadio was preparing in the sacristy. He did this until he was seven years old and went to study at the seminary in Astorga.

In the middle the main entrance was created (in fact, it is very similar to the one we found walled up in the church of Santa María del Moral de Villafáfila),

Made of brick, with a bordered semicircular Gothic arch, it has a two-leaf door, which opens wide, made of wood, with gates, which can be entered from the left side.

Above it there is a small square niche, and at the top, a circular part of it, now covered, could have once contained an image.

This door has a gate, but the gate is contemporary.

In this southern part on the right side there is a small sacristy attached to the main nave that reaches a little more than half of the nave.

Its interior is a small temple with a single nave divided into four sections and covered by a ribbed vault, all of them in the Gothic style.

We will look to locate ourselves inside looking towards the presbytery (west).

In the first section is the presbytery, with the altar from where the parish priest officiates mass, etc. and behind this is the Main Altarpiece.

D. Manuel Gómez Moreno describes the altarpiece:

“Main altarpiece, in classical style from the second half of the 16th century, without great value for its sculpture and even less for its painted panels. Base with reliefs of evangelists and prophets; first body Ionic, with eight columns, saints in the intercolumns, two virtues in relief at the ends and arch in the middle for the monstrance; second body Corinthian, with relief of Saint Martin in its center; third, even smaller, with Calvary, and God in the frontispiece” [13] .

The main altarpiece, second half of the 16th century, is composed of a bench and three bodies, with three columns and counter-columns with a base with reliefs of evangelists and prophets, finished with an attic and frontispiece. The first body is Ionic, with eight columns, saints in the intercolumns, two virtues in relief at the ends and in the middle of the semi-circular arch for the monstrance; and both on the left and right (the originals are missing) a canvas that has been replaced by an image of the Heart of Jesus and the Heart of Mary.

2nd Corinthian body, central street, with an image of Saint Martin mounted on a horse and carrying a sword. This image is not carved into the altarpiece, but is an image mounted there, which was taken out in procession on Saint Martin's day (November 11). On each side there is a street with a canvas, on the left it represents the Virgin with the baby Jesus in her arms, and on the right, the Virgin with the child being kissed, two virtues in relief at the ends.

The 3rd body, an even smaller central street with a relief of San Martín in its centre and another behind it on foot, on each side a street with two canvases, on the left a bishop and on the right Jesus shaking hands with a kneeling person together with two other standing angels, two virtues in relief at the ends.

Attic, has a central street with Calvary sculpted to Jesus on the cross, on each side two people, on the left, a woman, praying to the right. without being able to define, on each side is this, of a smaller canvas than in the other bodies, on the left an angel pointing to the right side. and on the right. A woman praying.

The Attic frontispiece is finished with a body in its central and only street, representing God, with one hand on a ball representing the world, and the other hand raised with two of the elongated ones.

In this first section of the church there are candelabras on each side of the column with a rudimentary wooden support.

A cross with its mast on the south side (right) on the left wall. A small image of the Heart of Jesus.

Behind this cross against the north wall is a small image of the Heart of Jesus.

On the right side is the access door to the sacristy.

The roof is formed by Gothic cross vaulting.

In the 2nd section, on each side there are two similar and simple wooden altarpieces, of little value, and very simple decoration, with two parts.

1st lower part, the widest, in the middle a large niche in which an image is introduced, flanked by two columns and on each side the finish, all on a small ledge.

It is painted in dark brown and dark green.

2nd upper part, is narrower coinciding with the central part of the 1st part, it has a small niche where an image is placed, it ends in a small triangular attic.

Altarpiece in 2nd section, north side (left)

In its large niche where the image of Our Lady of Carmen is, at the top there is a much smaller niche with another image that could be St. Teresa of Jesus.

On each side of the altarpiece there are small images, on the left, Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception and on the right, Saint Joseph with the baby Jesus, and Saint Anthony of Padua with the baby Jesus. Altarpiece, 2nd section, north side (right).

In its large niche where the image of Our Lady of the Rosary is located, at the top of the niche is the image of Saint Roque.

 On each side of the altarpiece there are small images, on the left, Saint Isidore in a small niche, Saint Anthony of Padua with the baby Jesus and on the right, Saint Anthony the Abbot “San Antón” , and a chapel that was taken from house to house by the neighbors where it remained for a time.

Its vault, like all the others, is ribbed.

In the 3rd section to the south (right) is the entrance door to the church which has double-leaf gates, and on the left side you can enter through it, on the north side (left) there is only a small one of Our Lady of Fatima.

The 4th section, to the north (left), has a confessional.

In the middle of the baptismal font, slightly higher from the ground, next to a pilaster to the south (right), there is a Mozarabic capital.

and behind these on the right is the spiral staircase that goes up to the bell tower.

Its ceiling, like the rest of the sections, is a ribbed vault.

The stations are placed around the church.

Images

This church has images of poor quality, and its current state is deteriorating, some of them are old and made of wood:

Our Lady of the Rosary, Our Lady of Carmen, Saint Teresa of Jesus?, Saint Roch, Saint Anthony the Abbot “Saint Anthony” , Saint Isidore the Farmer, Saint Anthony of Padua and Child Jesus.

The rest of the images were introduced in the 20th century and are made of plaster.

 Heart of Jesus Saint Joseph with the child Jesus, Our Lady of Fatima Our Lady of the Immaculate.

And a Chapel with the Virgin Mary, Saint Joseph and the baby Jesus.

Saint Martin

The image of Saint Martin represented on a horse, with a sword, in Roman costume, belonged to the Roman cavalry army, and a large cape, the horse is adorned with a red breastplate that covers its entire back and ends in golden tassels.

This image that is on the altar of the 2nd Corinthian body, central street, is not an image sculpted on the main altarpiece, but an image that is deposited there, which on the day of San Martín, November 11, the feast of Otero de Sariegos, was taken out in procession.

Our Lady of the Rosary

She wears a large crown, a purple cloak and a large rosary, and in her hands a crowned baby Jesus.

This image was probably the titular image of the Rosary brotherhood, which was possibly founded between the 15th and 16th centuries and disappeared in the 19th century.

Perhaps, as was once typical, there was no brotherhood that did not hold a procession with its image. In the 16th century, Saint Pius V established its liturgical commemoration on October 7, the day of the Battle of Lepanto.

Our Lady of Mount Carmel

Saint Teresa of Jesus?

Wearing a nun's chasuble, with the upper part black, the rest brown with a multitude of folds decorated with filigree, in her left hand, at face level, she carries a lantern.

Saint Roch

Where we can see, wearing a red tunic, some red flowers painted among his clothes, part of his right leg, in front of the sores he has, next to his faithful dog.

San Antonio Abad “San Antón”

Wearing a crown, a large cape and tunic with large folds, they carry a book in their right hand and a staff in their left, accompanied by a pig, popularly known as Marrano Antón.

Saint Joseph with the baby Jesus

Saint Joseph, wearing a crown and a cape, holds a staff in his left hand, and with his right hand he holds the baby Jesus who is holding a cross in his left hand.

Saint Anthony of Padua with the baby Jesus

With a crown and a large pleated habit, carrying in her left hand the baby Jesus who wears a crown and a white dress.

Saint Isidro

San Isidro, with a crown and black cape, and a bag, in his right hand he carries a palm, in front of him two oxen led by an angel. He is placed in a small rectangular urn crowned by a cross.

Chapel

At the top there is a small semicircular gate, carved and crowned with a cross. Inside there is a tree and in front of it the Virgin Mary on the right and Saint Joseph on the left. In the centre is the baby Jesus, holding each hand.

This chapel was carried from house to house by the neighbors where it was for a time and then it was passed on to another.

Heart of Jesus

Crowned with a cross behind his head, wearing a beige tunic, he wears a large red cape that covers a large part of his body, and on his torso a large heart, which represents the Heart of Jesus. This image is made of plaster.

Our Lady of Fatima

With a large crown on his head, a beige tunic covering his head and his entire body, his hands together as if he were praying, and doves at his feet.

Our Lady of the Immaculate

 Her face has a calm expression, with long blond hair, she wears a beige tunic with green filigree around the neck and sleeves, and a blue cape, her hands together praying, at her feet a snake is represented from one side to the other, in its mouth it carries an apple.

Saint Anthony of Padua with baby Jesus

         Saint Anthony in a habit and cord, holding in his arms the infant Jesus who is wrapped in a tunic and wearing a crown. This image is made of plaster.

PART 2 TO BE CONTINUED...

Author:

Jose Luis Dominguez Martinez

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Transcription and editing:

Jose Luis Dominguez Martinez.

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