Santa Marina is a church in Córdoba, Spain

Córdoba, Spain

-History:The first trace of human presence in the area are remains of a Neanderthal Man, dating to c. 32,000 BC. In the 8th century BC, during the ancient Tartessos period, a pre-urban settlement existed. The population gradually learned copper and silver metallurgy...

. It is one of the so-called "Fernandinean Churches", edificated in the city after Ferdinand III of Castile

Ferdinand III of Castile

Saint Ferdinand III, T.O.S.F., was the King of Castile from 1217 and León from 1230. He was the son of Alfonso IX of León and Berenguela of Castile. Through his second marriage he was also Count of Aumale. He finished the work done by his maternal grandfather Alfonso VIII and consolidated the...

 conquered it from the Moors

Moors

The description Moors has referred to several historic and modern populations of the Maghreb region who are predominately of Berber and Arab descent. They came to conquer and rule the Iberian Peninsula for nearly 800 years. At that time they were Muslim, although earlier the people had followed...

 in the 13th century. The structure combines proto-Gothic

Gothic architecture

Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....

, Mudéjar and, to a lesser degree, late-Romanesque

Romanesque architecture

Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of Medieval Europe characterised by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque architecture, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 10th century. It developed in the 12th century into the Gothic style,...

 elements.

History

The church, one of the oldest of the Fernandinean group, was built in the second half of the 13th century where previously a 7th century Visigothic

Visigothic art

The Visigoths entered Hispania in 415, and they rose to be the dominant people there until the Moorish invasion of 711 brought their kingdom to an end.This period in Iberian art is dominated by their style...

 church and a Moorish mosque had existed. No trace of them remains today.

On 23 June 1880 the church suffered a fire, which required a restoration lasting two years. Other renewals were carried on in the 19th and 20th centuries, during which the medieval appearance of the edifice was restored, by removing the Baroque additions introduced after the damage from the 1680 and 1755 earthquakes.

The church is a national monument since 1931.

Overview

The church has a rectangular, or basilica, plan, divided into a nave and two aisles, the nave being far higher than the latter. The aisles are separated from the nave by large pointed arches.

The facade is characterized by four large, asymmetrical buttress

Buttress

A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall...

es, ending with pinnacle

Pinnacle

A pinnacle is an architectural ornament originally forming the cap or crown of a buttress or small turret, but afterwards used on parapets at the corners of towers and in many other situations. The pinnacle looks like a small spire...

s, and corresponding to the interior separation between nave and aisles. Also present are a main central rose window

Rose window

A Rose window is often used as a generic term applied to a circular window, but is especially used for those found in churches of the Gothic architectural style and being divided into segments by stone mullions and tracery...

, smaller circular windows, and alfiz

Alfiz

The alfiz is an architectonic adornment, consisting of a moulding, usually a rectangular panel, which encloses the outward side of an arch...

es over the ogival arch of the main portal. The facade corresponding to the left aisle features a secondary portal, surmounted by a triangular arch.

The apses are polygonal. In the right aisle is the sacristy, built in the 15th century. The left aisle apse was adapted to house a Baroque chapel from 1630. The bell tower dates to the 16th century.

The retablo

Retablo

A Retablo or lamina is a Latin American devotional painting, especially a small popular or folk art one using iconography derived from traditional Catholic church art....

 of the Main Chapel houses paintings by Antonio del Castillo and sculptures from the local artist Gómez de Sandoval.

Sources