San Pedro Church, the oldest parish church in the capital, is located on one of the hills that make up the city of Huelva. Set on the remains of an Arab mosque at the foot of the Castle of Huelva, now disappeared, it is a Gothic-Mudejar style building whose construction dates from the 14th century to the end of the 15th century, undergoing various transformations until well into the 16th century it was the only temple in the town capable of housing the population of Huelva.
The first parish church in Huelva was consecrated to San Pedro and reached its current state through various works, extensions and reforms from the 14th century to the 21st century, which to a greater or lesser extent have transformed the church.
The ground plan and elevation of the building of San Pedro Church corresponds to the Mudejar Gothic model of Seville: basilica plan. Within the ground plan of the church, two areas can be clearly distinguished: the chancel and the naves.
The chancel is divided into two sections: octagonal in the presbytery and rectangular in the antepresbytery. The vaults in the two bays are ribbed vaults carved in limestone, the ribs of which are supported by capitals attached to the wall and linked to each other by means of a continuous impost. The connecting element between the two sections is a rib that makes it sexpartite. The attached pillars that serve to separate the first and second sections of the main chapel are attached to the pillars and are responsible for forming the interior transverse arch and the main arch, all of which are ogival in shape.
Of the three naves that make up the church, the central nave is the tallest, covered with a coffered ceiling with a pair and knuckle, and the two side naves are covered with a single-sided coffered ceiling (Hispano-Muslim heritage), separated by pillars that support high pointed arches and make up five bays. The fourth and fifth sections added at the beginning of the 16th century (1508) maintain the choir and the choir loft. The four pillars closest to the chancel area are cruciform in section. In the two side aisles there are many chapels by different artists and dedicated to different vocations, some of them influenced by Sevillian retablists such as Martínez Montañés.
Following on from the chancel, special mention should be made of the restoration of the high altar in 1646, when the altarpiece was gilded and cleaned. In 1721 Francisco de Torres y Esquivel presented a report alleging the need to make a new main altarpiece because the previous one was very old and deteriorated. The commission was given in 1722 to Antonio de Carvajal, an assembler, architect, carver, sculptor and carpenter, trained in the artistic environment of Pedro Roldán, who undertook to complete the altarpiece within two years.
Its design is fundamentally architectural, in keeping with the taste of the period for façade altarpieces. It is perfectly adapted to the polygonal shape of the chancel and stands on a bench with an altar table and tabernacle in the centre, in accordance with the canonical ordinances of the time, topped in the middle by two corbels on which are four stipes that divide the central body into three lanes with niches and corbels with image roundels.
The central street, which is wider than the side streets, has a trapezoidal tabernacle at its lower part, decorated at its angles with Solomonic or twisted columns, while above the tabernacle there are two superimposed dressing rooms, the first dedicated to Saint Peter, a seated sculpture, and the second to Saint Anne and the Virgin and Child.
In the side streets, in niches, are the Inmaculada Concepción and San José sculptures. This main altarpiece of San Pedro Church is crowned with a large semi-circular attic separated from the lower body by a classical-style dust-covering, while the upper part of the attic is crowned with garlands. The entire attic is dominated by a high relief of the eternal father in an attitude of blessing and holding the sphere of the universe in his left hand. It is accompanied on the sides by sculptures of San Martin de Porres and San Lucas.
In the purest Baroque style, the altarpiece is completely complete by incorporating acanthus leaves, scrolls, classical orders used with complete freedom, cherubs, volutes, volutes and broken or triangular pediments. This altarpiece was again restored by Juan Aguilar Gutiérrez between 2003 and 2004.
The 18th century is crucial to the history of San Pedro Church. The Church suffered various damages due to natural disasters. In 1722, a hurricane demolished the five-span belfry. In 1755, the Lisbon earthquake struck, with devastating consequences for the church, affecting the main body and chapel, the belfry and the priest’s house. In 1758, another hurricane broke the newly-built bell tower and split the vault of the main chapel and the headwall. In 1763, a new earthquake left the bell tower in ruins and again affected the main altar.
The 18th century is crucial to the history of San Pedro Church. The Church suffered various damages due to natural disasters. In 1722, a hurricane demolished the five-span belfry. In 1755, the Lisbon earthquake struck, with devastating consequences for the church, affecting the main body and chapel, the belfry and the priest’s house. In 1758, another hurricane broke the newly-built bell tower and split the vault of the main chapel and the headwall. In 1763, a new earthquake left the bell tower in ruins and again affected the main altar.
The location of the bell tower of San Pedro Church was mainly to place it in a place where it would be less windy, and it was Pedro de Silva who, on 5 July 1970, presented the project for the bell tower. Built by Francisco Díaz Pinto, the tower has its foundations in stone, and from there, it begins its construction in brick where the contrast of the white colour of the backgrounds with the warm tone of the avitolado and the cut brick is completed with four pilasters in the corners of the tower, a commemorative plaque and a circular oculus.
The bell body is divided into four parts: with four pilasters at the four corners, two on each side. The second section has sixteen pilasters, four at each corner in Doric order with architrave, frieze and cornice, and above this section is the octagonal spire covered with blue and white glazed tiles and topped by a weather vane and cross from earlier periods.
The church is located at Plaza de San Pedro, 10.
Timetable:
Monday to Sunday from 10:00 h to 12:00 h and 18:00 h to 19:30 h.
You can find more information at the following link.
