Parish Church of the Immaculate Conception in Bustarviejo
Property of Patrimonial Interest
The Parish Church of the Immaculate Conception
La Parish Church of the Immaculate Conception It constitutes a notable example of a rural temple of constructive sobriety, reflecting the historical evolution of the town of Bustarviejo, in which it is located.
Elements such as its inertial Romanesque apse from the XNUMXth century, as well as remains of war-themed mural painting, carried out in the mid-XNUMXth or early XNUMXth century in linear Gothic style; give the church a special historical and artistic significance that justifies its declaration as an Asset of Heritage Interest.
Externally, the church is built entirely with masonry, reinforced with ashlars in the corners of the tower and western façade. The north wall is reinforced with five buttresses corresponding to different construction stages, giving rise to five wall sections with slight differences in their masonry.
On the south wall is the entrance doorway to the temple, formed by a semicircular arch. Next to this façade, there is a portico on columns, built at the beginning of the XNUMXth century, although remains of the supports of a previous portico located at a lower height than the current one are preserved. The western wall of the side naves is what was the main entrance doorway, currently blinded, formed by a simple granite semicircular arch.
The current church is the result of additions, modifications and interventions that have occurred over time, as a consequence of different events and social needs. It consists of:
- Medieval head with reforms from the XNUMXth and XNUMXth centuries, formed by a semicircular apse preceded by a straight section, covered with wooden armor.
- Body formed by three naves separated by semicircular arches on quadrangular pillars from the XNUMXth century, covered with a wooden roof from the XNUMXth century. The side naves end in two separate chapels built during the XNUMXth century.
- In the north side nave remains of mural painting dated around 1400 or 1450 are preserved.
- Sacristy attached to the head on its south side from the XNUMXth century.
- Tower located at the foot of the temple, dateable towards the end of the XNUMXth or beginning of the XNUMXth century.
- Portico attached to the south façade, from the beginning of the XNUMXth century.
- Masonry wall that delimits a large part of the temple, forming a landscaped compass.
Although the population must have arisen after the repopulation of the area between the 1297th and 1350th centuries, the first documents that refer to the village of Bustarviejo are dated XNUMX. Later, it appears cited in the Libro de la Montería de Alfonso XI (XNUMX). , where several houses are mentioned, which would be farmhouses scattered throughout the countryside. The church of the village was erected on a hill next to the royal road, coinciding in this section with the Cañada Real Segoviana.
Between the XNUMXth and XNUMXth centuries, Bustarviejo, who was part of the Sexmo de Lozoya, belonging to the Community of Villa y Tierra de Segovia, had the status of royalty, which freed him from certain servitudes that weighed on neighboring towns and became a pole of attraction for the inhabitants of its surroundings, which would explain why in the XNUMXth century the body of the medieval church was demolished and a larger body of naves was built. In this century it had already become one of the most thriving towns in this sector of the Sierra del Guadarrama.
This situation of prosperity continued during the XNUMXth century when a Royal Privilege signed by Felipe IV confirmed its independence, reaching the category of town. During this century important reforms were carried out in the parish church.
During the first half of the 1770th century, the Council decided to move its headquarters to the vicinity of the church, building the new Town Hall from 1868, and conditioning the space between both buildings to hold bullfights. Later, the Revolution of 1936 and the Civil War of XNUMX marked periods of decline, having a very notable impact on the town.
The archaeological works carried out in the church have revealed the existence of a modern and contemporary cemeterya, which spanned almost the entire building. Located below it, in the northeastern area of the current temple, a cave necropolis from medieval times, with pits excavated in rock that, due to their typology, can be dated to the XNUMXth, XNUMXth and XNUMXth centuries, and which would be located outside a primitive church, of which two sections of walls have been discovered under the chapel of the north nave .
In the presbytery, under the arches that communicate with the side chapels, the excavations have detected structures that correspond to a Romanesque building, without being able to accurately determine their chronology. Considering the existence of remains of mural paintings Appearing in the easternmost section of the wall of the north side nave, dated around 1400 or 1450, this dating allows us to place the construction of the apse during the XNUMXth century, maintaining until then the primitive church associated with the medieval cemetery.
This typology responds to stylistic approaches typical of a retarded inertial Romanesque, which continued to repeat the same models in advanced dates, lasting until the XNUMXth and even XNUMXth centuries, mainly in rural areas, such as the nearby churches of Prádena del Rincón, Venturada or Torremocha. .
The part of the remains of mural painting that are located on the north wall can be considered as one of the most outstanding elements of the church, in terms of its artistic and historical value. Although very lost, a war scene can be identified without being able to be interpreted with greater precision, due to the few preserved remains. The paintings have been studied by specialized researchers who place them some in the mid-1400th century, others around XNUMX. However, they constitute the only example of mural painting on a military theme from medieval times that is preserved in the Community of Madrid, and one of the few examples in Castilla.
In the scene it is possible to recognize a cardinal's hat and a cross of the Military Order of Calatrava, which could have been carried by an ecclesiastical figure who has now disappeared. Behind the hat, there are remains of an inscription that refers to the principal "m(an)do fazer ... el moço", therefore, with a commemorative intention of the event in which the character participates. Along with this representation, there are remains of figures dressed in characteristic military clothing from the XNUMXth century, on a background where a walled enclosure can be seen, which could represent a combat. The shields they carry, called bucklers, are of Muslim origin, although they were adopted by Christians from the XNUMXth century.
Some authors have related the scene to the campaign of Alfonso XI against the King of Granada that culminated in the capture of Algeciras in 1344, so perhaps the principal was some character who intervened in it. For others, the scene could be interpreted as the embodiment of the constant claim of the Archbishop of Toledo to obtain this territory of the Land of Segovia, which the people of Segovia defended against the Toledo troops.
