Arca Santa facts for kids
The Arca Santa (which means "Holy Ark" or "Holy Chest") is a special wooden box, made of oak. It's covered with silver that has been shaped and decorated in a style called Romanesque. This amazing chest is kept in the Cámara Santa (Holy Chamber) of the Cathedral of San Salvador in Oviedo, Spain. In 1934, the Cámara Santa was damaged by an explosion. This explosion also hurt the Arca Santa, but it was carefully fixed by a restorer named Manuel Gómez-Moreno.
Contents
What Does the Arca Santa Look Like?
The Arca Santa is a large black oak box. It measures about 72 centimeters tall, 119 centimeters wide, and 93 centimeters deep. This is quite big for a reliquary, which is a container for holy relics. It's more like the size of a small, portable altar. The box was built without using any nails. Some people think this was done to copy how Solomon's Temple was built.
The entire box is covered in silver. The front and both sides have designs that are pushed out from the metal, a technique called repoussé. The back has a simple checkered pattern. The flat lid is decorated with detailed engraved pictures using a dark metal inlay called niello.
The front panel of the Arca Santa looks like the front of an altar. It shows Christ in majesty, which means Jesus is shown in a powerful, glorious way. He is inside a special oval shape called a mandorla, carried by four angels. On either side of him are the Twelve Apostles. Around the edges of this panel, there's an inscription written in a style called Kufesque, which looks like Arabic writing.
The left side of the Arca Santa tells a story about Christ's infancy (Jesus as a baby). There are five scenes arranged in two rows. You read them by going counterclockwise, starting from the top right. A band of text separates the two rows. It says: "Mary and Joseph put the Lord in the animals' manger / An angel appeared to Joseph saying, 'Flee into Egypt, and stay [there]'."
The right side also has two rows separated by text. The top row shows Christ in a mandorla, held up by two angels. On the right, Michael the Archangel is fighting a dragon. He is joined by a cherub and a seraph, which are types of angels. The bottom row shows eight apostles in different poses, looking like they are speaking. The text band on this side says: "Ascending on high, Christ led the captive from captivity / Michael the Archangel fought with the dragon."
The lid of the Arca Santa shows a detailed picture of Christ's crucifixion. This scene includes the two thieves who were crucified with Jesus, the Virgin Mary, and John, who was "the disciple whom Jesus loved." There are also angels holding censers (containers for burning incense), and figures representing the sun and moon. A long inscription surrounds this entire scene.
What's Inside the Arca Santa?
The Arca Santa is special because it holds relics from many different saints. This was unusual for reliquaries from the Early Middle Ages. The most precious items inside include:
- A piece of the True Cross (the cross Jesus was crucified on).
- Pieces from the Crown of Thorns (the crown placed on Jesus' head).
- Pieces from the Holy Sepulchre (the tomb where Jesus was buried).
- Some bread from the Last Supper (Jesus' last meal with his disciples).
- Some of the Virgin Mary's milk.
There is also a clear glass bottle, called an ampulla, that contains some blood. This blood is said to be from the Berytus icon. This was an image of Christ that was first mentioned in 787. It was believed to have bled after some Jewish people pierced it. The items inside the Arca Santa show an interest in Jesus' human life, his family, and the Holy Land itself.
Besides relics of Jesus' family, the Arca also contains items from the Old Testament. These include the rod of Moses and some manna (the food God provided to the Israelites in the desert). Many relics of the apostles are also kept inside. There is even a cloak that the Virgin Mary reportedly gave to Ildephonsus of Toledo.
The first written record describing what was inside the Arca comes from a note added to a book from the 11th century. This note might have been based on a guide written by clerks from the church in Oviedo. The lid of the Arca itself also has a partial list of its contents, made from silver. Another old source about the contents is a letter from Osmond, who was the Bishop of Astorga. He wrote to Ida of Boulogne about the Marian relics (relics of the Virgin Mary) that could be seen in Spain.
The Sudarium of Oviedo
The Sudarium of Oviedo, also called the Shroud of Oviedo or cloth of Oviedo, is the most famous relic of Christ's passion kept in the Arca Santa. A sudarium is a Latin word for a sweat cloth. This bloodstained cloth is believed to be the cloth that was wrapped around Jesus Christ's head after he died. It was supposedly left folded to the side in his tomb when he was resurrected.
This cloth has some interesting similarities with other famous religious images, like the Shroud of Turin and the Manoppello Image. The Sudarium of Oviedo is shown to the public three times a year: on Good Friday, on the Feast of the Triumph of the Cross (September 14), and eight days later (September 21).
Where Did the Arca Santa Come From?
The Legend of Its Journey
Many legends about the Arca Santa's origins were popular in the Middle Ages. These stories can be found in at least ten different writings from the 11th to the 14th centuries.
One legend, found in a book called the Liber testamentorum (written around 1120), says that some followers of the twelve apostles built the Arca in Jerusalem. It supposedly stayed there until 614 AD, when a king named Chosroes II conquered the city. At that time, the Arca was moved to Africa for safety.
Later, when the Islamic invasion threatened Africa, the Arca had to be moved again. It was taken to Toledo, which was then the capital of the Visigoths (a Germanic people who ruled Spain). When the Muslims invaded Spain in 711 AD, the Arca was brought to Oviedo to keep it safe. Finally, in the early 9th century, King Alfonso II of Asturias built a chapel dedicated to Saint Michael, called the Cámara Santa. This chapel was made to house the Arca. It remains there today, as an annex to the Oviedo cathedral.
A similar story about the Arca's journey is in another historical book called the Liber chronicorum. This story then influenced other historical writings like the Historia silense, the Chronicon mundi, and De rebus Hispaniae.
Two biographies of Toribius of Astorga also mention the Arca. They are called the Estoria de sancto Toribio and the Vida de santo Toribio de Liébana. Even though they have some differences, both agree that Toribius took refuge in Spain with some relics from Jerusalem. He had been guarding them, safely hidden in a wooden ark. The Estoria lists many items stored in the Arca. The Vida only mentions a piece of wood from the True Cross and a jar that held the wine from Jesus' first miracle at the Wedding at Cana:
And at the end of three years the angel of God appeared to him again and said to him: "Turibius, carry the relics to the parts of Spain because you know that all this land must be destroyed by the Moors." And Saint Turibius then did thus and put the relics on the ship, among which were firstly a piece of the cross where our saviour Jesus Christ was crucified, and one of the jars in which he consecrated the water wine, and many other relics of saints men and women.
The Arca Santa's History
Historians have traditionally believed that the Arca and the Cámara Santa were decorated by King Alfonso VI of León and his sister Urraca of Zamora. They thought this happened around 1075. According to a document from the Oviedo cathedral archives (Document 72), Alfonso and Urraca had the reliquary opened on March 13 of that year. They then examined what was inside. This document, dated March 14, only exists as a copy from the 13th century. Some people have questioned if it's truly authentic. It might have been created to help Oviedo and its holy shrine seem more important than other places, like Santiago.
See also
In Spanish: Arca Santa para niños
