De reliquias ocultas: sobre la Capilla del Pilar de Zaragoza, de Santiago Apóstol a Ventura Rodríguez

Abstract

When, in 1750, Ventura Rodríguez accepted a commission to build the new chapel of the Virgin of the Pillar at the Cathedral-Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar in Zaragoza, he knew that its new covering of fine materials would conceal another modest but very important construction: the “Pared antigua de la primitiva Santa Capilla edificada por Santiago” (the old Wall of the original and Holy Chapel built by Saint James). A small hole exists to this day on the western wall of the chapel, allowing people to see, touch and kiss what the faithful believe to be the Marian column, but which in origin must, perhaps, have been the apostolic wall of the first shrine. So, is St James the Great the architect of a construction that is as old as the time for which it has been concealed, the central figure of a legend that has never been interlinked with that Santiago de Compostela, where his corpse was taken? This article attempts to reconstruct the episode while also deconstructing this Aragonese tradition.