Draft:Sanctuary of the Virgen de Bendueños

Sanctuary of the Virgen de Bendueños
Santuario de la Virgen de Bendueños
Religion
Affiliation	Catholic Church
Deity	Our Lady of Bendueños
Location
Location	Asturias, Spain
Architecture
Style	Gothic
Founder	King Alfonso III of Asturias and Queen Jimena of Asturias
Date established	16th century

The Sanctuary of the Virgen de Bendueños, also called Our Lady of Bendueños, is a place of worship of the Catholic Church located in the town of Bendueños (municipality of Lena), in the central area of Asturias. It is located on the south, towards the port of Pajares on the N-630, about 5 km from Pola de Lena, so it was one of the most sought after stops for pilgrims making the Camino de Santiago from León through Oviedo.

It is a Gothic style sanctuary, founded in 905, when King Alfonso III and Queen Jimena donated a series of monasteries to the Archdiocese of Oviedo, among them Bendueños, on January 20th. A structure was built on the foundations of the primitive pre-Romanesque temple that has part of the late Middle Ages.**** In the 16th century, the current sanctuary was built on the previous remains. Different compartments were added such as the sacristy, side altars, bell tower, etc. Separated from the sanctuary by a few meters to the north, in front of the main portico, is the “Casa de novenas”, which was inhabited by a hermit who took care of the sanctuary and helped pilgrims. It was significantly enlarged in 1741.

The sanctuary had one of the first “priestly confraternities”. In it, the parish priests of nearby places - and some from far away - met to improve their human, intellectual and moral life, as well as to receive the Sacrament of Penance, for which a loft was built in the east area that served as a meeting room and was called the “House of the Confraternity”. The sanctuary was closely linked to the Benedictine monasticism, since there were five of them in the surroundings of the sanctuary, frequented by monks and abbots.

Hermitage or sanctuary

In the local and national environment, there is a tendency to magnify the so-called “minor hermitages” to convert them, in good faith, into sanctuaries, when in fact they are not. To differentiate a hermitage from a sanctuary, which is not easy, it is necessary to take into account what the Catholic Church says about the matter. Specifically, Canon law of the Catholic Church 1230 states:

(...) by the name of sanctuary is designated a church or other sacred place to which, for a particular reason of piety, numerous faithful go on pilgrimage, with the approval of the Ordinary of the place.

Although it does not establish a rigid difference, this gives a guideline to follow to denominate these pilgrimage centers in one way or another. Both conditions are fulfilled in this temple, which is why it is considered a sanctuary.

Location

The sanctuary began to be built in what was the immense municipality of Lena, since its slopes of “Lena de Suso” were located between the Pajares and Huerna rivers, and “Lena de Yuso” reached from Mieres to Agüeria and Olloniego, being called the “Conceyón”. Nowadays, it is smaller. In 2010, the municipality of Lena had about 12,400 inhabitants, 26 parishes, 5 of them consecrated to the Virgin Mary, and a cast iron monument of the Immaculate Conception, dating from 1904, paid for and built by the residents of Carabanzo and located in the “Cuitu Ramón”, a peak where the municipalities of Aller, Mieres and Lena converge. In the municipality, there are also ten Marian chapels, which gives an idea of the great devotion of the “lenenses” to the Virgin Mary in any of its many invocations. The jewel of the Asturian pre-Romanesque, Santa Cristina de Lena, which is universally known for the beauty and slenderness of its architectural forms, is very close to the Sanctuary of the Virgen de Bendueños, which adds another attraction to the area surrounding the sanctuary. Among the illustrious people who were born in the municipality, especially in the ecclesiastical field, is the former bishop of Valladolid, Fernando Blanco Llorente, who, along with others, represented Spain at the First Vatican Council, which was convened by Pope Pius IX in 1869.

The sanctuary is located at the mouth of the Huerna river valley, on the north-facing side and at a considerable height above the former Campomanes toll area of the Ruta de la Plata AP-66 highway - also known as the “Huerna highway” -, which was eliminated and moved to the area at the tail of the Barrios de Luna reservoir, in the province of León. Access to the sanctuary by car is via a paved but steep road that leaves the N-630 about 2 km after passing the village of Campomanes in the direction of the Pajares pass, at a turn-off to the right of this road, near the village of La Barraca. This steep access has traditionally been given the name of “miracle road”, although the origin and reason for this name are not very clear. A stone cross and a sign, located a few hundred meters before reaching the sanctuary, invites pilgrims to pray to the Virgen de Bendueños. It belongs to the parish of Herías, in the judicial district and municipality of Lena. From the Middle Ages, it was one of the points located on the Camino de Santiago.

For walkers and hikers who wish to visit the sanctuary by foot, it is necessary to know that this route has the designation “PR no. AS-86”. You can observe the exceptional sunny landscapes of Peña Furá, and the shadier landscape of Cantu la Cruz. When you reach the sanctuary, the views of the Alto del Teso and the valley of the Huerna River are very attractive. To see the monastery, you have to ask for the key in the last house on the left of the road, in the same village of Bendueños, and you must return it in the same place.

Floor plan of the ascent to the sanctuary

The most relevant data of this route are:

• Distance: 10 km;
• Duration: 3 hours;
• Average difficulty: low

For cyclotourists, this climb represents one of the short but “hard” “walls” of Lena. It has a length of 3000 m and an ascent of 274 m, which gives an average gradient of 9.13%. The maximum slope is 24% for 80 m, and the APM difficulty coefficient is 122. The last 500 m are downhill and the ground is acceptable all the way, even for road bikes. The sanctuary can also be accessed from the village of Sotiello, at the bottom of the Huerna river, by a path that is only for walking. Narrow and very steep in some areas, it is very rewarding to see how much elevation is gained in a short distance, all while seeing spectacular landscapes that change according to the elevation reached.

History

Oral tradition says that a temple was located in this place, dedicated to the Gallic god Vindus, which was Latinized as Apollo Vindonnus. In reality, the first documented data of the sanctuary dates back to the year 905, as it is cited in the “Liber Testamentorum” found in the Archives of the Cathedral of Oviedo, dated January 20th of that year, in which King Alfonso III and Queen Jimena donated a series of monasteries, villas and churches to the Church of Oviedo, among them the Monastary of San Clodio and the village of Herías. The “Liber Testamentorum” literally reads: Inter fluminae Ornam et Lenam eclesiae Sanctae Mariae de Uendonios (in English: Church of Santa María de Vendonios between the rivers Huerna and Lena). This document also mentions the church of Santa María de Castiello, the church of Santa María de Campomanes and the church of the village of Herías, among others. Since then, the accents of Marian fervor began to resound in the history of this region of Lena when the ecclesial words Sanctae Mariae de Vendonios were pronounced. Since then, the accents of Marian fervor began to resound in the history of this region of Lena when the words "eclesial Sanctae Mariae de Vendonios" were pronounced.

It seems likely that the sanctuary had some link with the monasticism of the Lena area, to which Juan Menéndez Pidal made the following reference: “Five monasteries, probably of the order of St. Benedict, located at various points in the region, indicate as many population centers. Their monks, like Fromistano in Oviedo and San Félix in Obona, at the same time that they ploughed wastelands, they furrowed the limits of a settlement." San Pedro and San Pablo de Felgueras (Santa Cristina de Lena today), Santa María de Parana, San Claudio de Herías, San Eugenio de Moreda and Santa Eulalia were the names of these monasteries. Although the date of their foundation is unknown, almost all are mentioned in documents from the beginning of the 10th century (year 905), and it is almost certain that they already existed in the 9th century.

Above the village of Bendueños and its sanctuary is the Peñasca Xulives, formerly highly respected because it was believed to have a special attraction of supernatural origin concerning lightning storms. Science has been in charge of dismantling this idea, since the high frequency of lightning strikes in that area, which is true, is due to other factors of orographic and geological type. The neighbors of those times, in the moments of great storms, went to the sanctuary and, ringing the bells, prayed at the feet of the image of Santa Barbara with the following invocation: “Stop, cloud. Stop, yourself. God is stronger than you”.

Structure and architecture

The structure of the sanctuary dates back to medieval times, and different elements have been added subsequently. The church is of late Gothic style, and it has also undergone several reforms, with a camarín consisting of a small and rustic enclosure that has paintings of the 14th century. The image of the Virgin Mary, which dates from the same period as the sanctuary, wears a silver crown and a red mantle, although confreres and neighbors have paid for other mantles of different colors in recent times. In 1988, both the sanctuary and its surroundings were restored, as well as the images of the Virgin and Santa Barbara, and the altarpiece.

First data

It is not known with certainty if the existing sanctuary preserves any element of that pre-Romanesque church. Some historians claim that the Romanesque doorway and the capitals of the church of Saint Antoninus of Pamiers come from that initial church of Bendueños. Others claim that these architectural elements come from a building located in the village of Alcedo de los Caballeros, near Bendueños and totally deserted in recent times, where the Order of the Knights Templar - founded in 1118 and whose mission was to guard and help pilgrims  - had a building. According to this hypothesis, the church of Bendueños could have been a place of rest and prayer for pilgrims on their way to the Cathedral of San Salvador de Oviedo and on their way to the Camino de Santiago.

Not much more can be said about the fate of the primitive remains of the sanctuary. Although it is true that the parish of San Antolín appears in the Libro Becerro of the Cathedral of Oviedo, it is also true that it was introduced much later, in the 16th century, by Tirso de Avilés, when he was revising the parish structure of the diocese. On the other hand, there are reportings of this temple as a parish made by Bishop Diego Aponte Quiñones, so it is not strange that the building dates from the 16th century and that certain remains of the primitive sanctuary of Bendueños were incorporated into it.

The present sanctuary was built in the 16th century, on the foundations of the initial temple. That consists of a single nave, not very large, with a choir at the foot, a dressing room, sacristy, porticoes to the north and west and a bell tower. To the left of the nave is attached the so-called “Casa de la Cofradía” and, to the right, next to the presbytery, is the sacristy. The chapel dedicated to St. Joseph has disappeared, but the polychrome carving of the saint with the Infant Jesus is preserved.

The Sanctuary Buildings

The Church

The church was finished in 1581 and consisted of the following bodies: portico, main nave, pulpit, choir, collateral altars, confessionals, chapel of Saint Joseph, main chapel, sacristy and chapel of the “camarín”. The “Casa de Cofradías” is attached to the church and includes a kitchen, a large meeting room that communicates with the choir and, below it, the stables. In front of the church and separated, there is the “Casa de Novenas”. The most relevant data and passages found in the “Libro de fábrica” of the sanctuary, on which important studies have been made, read as follows:

“Year of 1581. The work and chapel of Nuestra Señora de Bendueños was auctioned off by Lizdo Pedro Álvarez Ronzón for 968 ducats and Lzdo. says it was ceded to Gutierre de Bueja, neighbor of Secadura, in the merindad of Trasmiera”.

Collateral altars

In 1685, the two side altars of the church were built. The master carpenter was Vega del Ciego Francisco Alvarez, who, as indicated in the “Libro del Santuario” on folio 39:***

(...) was given 100 reals and the rest he deserved, considering the poverty of the hermitage, which was forgiven...***

Another 400 reales were paid to the painter Jerónimo de la Cassa, for the paintings on both sides and for the frontals. In these altars, there are two frescoes: one that represents the Assumption of Our Lady, which has the following inscription in Latin: exaltata est, sancta Dei Genitrix, super coros angelorumin coelestia regna; and another one, that represents the Coronation of the Blessed Virgin as queen of the angels, and has the following inscription: Regina Angelorum. The “Libro del Santuario” says in its folio 39:

Plus five hundred reals that it cost to make the two collaterals that are in said hermitage; the one hundred reals were paid by Francisco Suárez, notcher, from Vega del Ciego, for the cost of the wood, which was 23 reals. There were 77 days that he and a servant spent in said work and hermitage, which the rest that he deserved,*** considering the poverty of said factory, he forgave them. And the 400 reals were taken and paid by said steward to Jerónimo de Cassa, painter, for the painting of said collaterals and pediments, as ordered, having been placed in the hands and in the presence of Don Sebastián Bernardo de Quirós and Don Sebastián Bernardo Miranda”.

Its state of conservation is excellent, since its last rector, Salvador Tejedor, made sure of it.