Description
The sanctuary was erected during the bishopric of Moscoso and Sandoval to guard the supposed remains of the martyred saints Bonoso and Maximiano, found in this town at the beginning of the 17th century, as well as the remains of more than 3,000 martyrs of the first Christians during Roman times. It was built between 1617 and 1619 with stone from Santiago de Calatrava and, as planned by Juan de Aranda y Salazar, who also worked on the Jaén cathedral, two churches were superimposed. A chamber was drilled in the lower part to be seen from the outside, like a crypt, with access through the Saints cemetery. It presents a polychrome plaster altarpiece, baroque decoration, which was not completed until the mid-19th century, tombstones with the stories of the martyrs and a plateresque doorway. The upper part has its entrance from Plaza de Santa María, through a doorway from 1659, and its floor plan is a single nave covered with a barrel vault with lunettes and architraved pilasters that support semicircular arches. The upper floor was intended to house the stone images of San Bonoso y San Maximiano, which were never placed. In the year 1843, with the Confiscation of Mendizábal, the images were moved to the Santa María church, and the relics of the martyrs were moved to the upper floor. Leaving the lower floor without functionality. Currently this space houses the Museo Religioso of the Arjona parishes where a good part of the brotherhood's heritage is exhibited, as well as old drawings and photographs.Eslava Galán presented her work The Conquest of America told for skeptics here. The Saints are characters of great importance in The Templar Tomb in the search for the enigma that Solomon's Table treasures, appearing as a clear Templar symbol as they are dual saints, in the image of the Order's shield, a couple that rides on the same horse: (…) I also bring here some news from Arjona: at the top of the hill on which the town is located, a scholar and archaeologist from the 17th century, Martín de Jimena Jurado, carried out some excavations from which the bones of many martyrs allegedly came to light, among them those of the patrons Bonoso and Maximiano. Two employers? – Isabel was surprised. As in all Calatrava towns, two patrons - Íñiguez corroborated - (...)
