Basilicas in Spain—Zaragoza and Pamplona y Tudela

Zaragoza 

I blogged about the following basilica on January 3, 2020.

• Metropolitan Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar in Zaragoza

Basilica of Our Lady, Badain, Huesca

Has been considered a minor basilica for centuries.

The church was originally part of a monastery for Benedictine nuns and was probably built in the 12th Century.  The Romanesque church was enlarged in the 16th Century, which is also when the tower was added.

Pictures are from Flickr, a local source, and Wikipedia.

Basilica of St. Mary, Graus, Huesca

Declared a minor basilica by Pope Pius VII in 1810.

A Romanesque church was built on this site in the 12th Century.  It was replaced in the 16th Century by the current Gothic and Renaissance church which also included a pilgrims’ hospital.  The church was badly damaged in 1936 during the Spanish Civil War but has been restored.

The first picture is from a local source and the other two are from Wikipedia.

Basilica of St. Lawrence, Huesca, Huesca

Declared a minor basilica by Pope Leo XIII in 1884.

There was a Romanesque church on this site which was converted to Gothic in the 14th Century.  This church was built using a Baroque style between 1608 and 1703.  Tradition has it that St. Lawrence’s parents once lived in this area. 

All pictures are from Wikipedia.

Basilica of St. Encratius, Zaragoza, Zaragoza

Declared a minor basilica by Pope John Paul II in 1991.

A church dedicated to St. Engracia and other early Christian martyrs has been on this site since the 3rd or 4th Century.  A monastery was built here in the 16th Century but was destroyed by war in the early 19th Century.  Only the alabaster façade, carved between 1512 and 1515, was saved and used in the construction of the current Renaissance church built in the late 19th Century.

All pictures are from Wikipedia.

Collegiate Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre, Calatayud, Zaragoza

Declared a minor basilica by Pope Francis in 2020.

This brick church was built between 1605 and 1613 in a Baroque style.  It replaced an earlier church.  It is the main church for the Order of the Holy Sepulcher in Spain.  It was built to resemble the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem.

The first picture is from a local source and the others are from Wikipedia.

Pamplona y Tudela

Basilica of St. Francis Xavier, Javier, Navarra

Declared a minor basilica by Pope Leo XIII in 1901.

St. Francis Xavier was born on this site in 1506.  This church was constructed between 1897 and 1901 using Neo-Romanesque, Neo-Gothic, and Byzantine styles.  St. Francis was one of the founders of the Jesuits.

Pictures are from Flickr, a local source, and the last two are from Wikipedia.

Basilica of St. Ignatius of Loyola, Loiola, Guipuzcoa

Declared a minor basilica by Pope Benedict XV in 1921.

The Jesuits began construction of a large complex of buildings in the late 1600s on the site of the birth (in 1491) of St. Ignatius of Loyola (one of the Order’s founders).  Work on the Baroque Basilica began in 1689 and continued until 1767.  The main altar is made of marble in a Churrigueresque style.

All pictures are from Wikipedia.

Basilica of St. Mary, San Sebastian, Guipuzcoa

Declared a minor basilica by Pope Paul VI in 1973.

The church is dedicated to the Virgin of the Choir and replaced a 13th Century building.  The current church was completed in 1774 using a Baroque style with elements of Gothic, Churrigueresque, Neoclassical, and Rococo.

All pictures are from Wikipedia.