Description

 

There was in this place a modest hermitage dedicated to the patron saint of Andujar that would be replaced by the current temple, built between 1918 and 1921 by the will of Maria Angustias Perez de Vargas and Perez de Vargas, Marquise de St. Rita and Countess of Gracia Real.

 

The chapel of the Virgen de la Cabeza uses ocher-colored brick as a construction material, which is very common in the regionalist houses that were built during those years in the city of Andujar.

 

The chapel, built by Don José Corbella Pené, is neo-Gothic style. In its facade we can speak of two bodies; the first, conceived as a socle of the second and, therefore, less developed; in the second, pilasters decorated with superimposed stirrups that are not very prominent divide the wall into four streets. On the first and third streets, ogive windows open, with three pointed arches over maineles decorated with simple tracery. Among these streets, others narrower, decorated by two pointed blind arches that run through much of the wall. The facade is finished with a graceful balustrade decorated with four pinnacles supported by pillars.

 

The cover, individualized in relation to the rest of the facade, has a beautiful archivolt ogive door that rests between pilasters, decorated with stirrups. In the tympanum, a high relief depicting the apparition of the Virgin to the pastor Juan de Colomera. The door is decorated with a gable whose apex is superimposed on the blinding rosette that is placed above it. The cover is highlighted by a small octagonal tower with a pyramidal spire, which is somewhat recessed by leaving enough space to simulate a two-sided slope between pinnacles.

 

The interior is of a single nave, articulated in three sections, covered with vault of ogive, being the one of the second starry. The nerves of the ogive are collected in supports attached to the wall. In the first section, the choir in high, which is in line with the street of the cover. The second section is the widest, since its space coincides with the second and third streets of the facade, and the third, with an amplitude similar to that of the choir, and elevated with respect to the others. The plastered wall, simulating rig isodomo, with a beautiful tile base typical of the town. The altarpiece, in Gothic style, is Mrs. Cocha Mármol's gift.

 

It is the chapel of the Virgen de la Cabeza one of the most eloquent samples of the historicist architecture of the province, if not of our Community. Its formal beauty and the quality of its trace thus endorses it. For the andujareños and the devotees of the Virgen de la Cabeza in general it is a must and a meeting place with the most representative icon of our identity.

 

It is our duty and obligation to make a brief review of the woman who bequeathed this beautiful chapel, reliquary of her Patroness, to the town of Andújar, and for this we will resort to the holiday album of the VII Centenary of Nuestra Señora de la Cabeza, where a brief profile of her is made, in the following terms: "Among all the illustrious ladies and pious ladies, gala and ornate of the city, among this group of strong women, of beautiful and brave soul, stood out for their high lusts of piety, the very excellent Mrs. Countess of Gracia Real and Marquise of St. Rita...

 

The distinguished descendant of the Pérez de Vargas, very named in the history of Andújar by the brilliance of their chivalries and by their greatness of all lineage, has shown with her works to be a worthy heiress of those past glories of her old house. She has supported all the pious initiatives, she has encouraged them with her influence, she has supported them with her gifts, she has improved them and enlarged them with her splendid generosities. It is due to the success of the Monumental Rosary designed by the illustrious writer D. Antonio Alcalá Venceslada; she helped to raise the monument dedicated to the Blessed Virgin; she spent large sums to restore the Chapel of the Virgin that was nothing more than a very modest hermitage and today is a true jewel of art, adorned with pomp and richness of the most exquisite architectural taste. ... For such reasons, the Mayor of Andújar, the illustrious Count of the Quintería, on behalf of the City Council, gave her the honorable title of Favorite Daughter of the city, a grace applauded by all the children of the beautiful city."

​

Association of Friends of the Patrimony of Andjar