The piece of the month for February 2026

DESIGN FOR THE MARAÑÓN BELL TOWER

Javier Munilla Antoñanzas
department of History, Art History and Geography
University of Navarra

Drawings are an important part of our heritage. This section necessary for the creative process of many works of art, was neglected for centuries in Spain, unlike in other European countries where it was considered a work of art in itself. Few works have survived, as most of them were destroyed once the project been completed and recognized. The preservation of the drawing in question is the result of a long legal battle between the parish council and the architect, as the work was not recognized according to the plans and conditions of project. It is a drawing dating from around 1763, belonging to the archives of the diocese of Calahorra and La Calzada-Logroño, to which Marañón belonged until 1956. Made of laid paper, it measures 30 cm wide and 25 cm high. In the lower right corner, there is a watermark depicting a bunch of grapes and the letters "OO" and "MD" on either side of it. In the mid-18th century, this subject was very common, and the paper was associated with French origins, although it was also copied in Catalonia.

 
Detail of the watermark on the trace. 1763. Photograph: ©L. Argáiz.

Conditions for the Marañón bell tower

By the middle of the 18th century, the parish of Marañón still did not have a bell tower, which meant that the bells had to hang on the main wall of the building, which had no arches or windows. Therefore, in 1761, the parish council saw the need to build a tower in which to place the bells, and Bartolomé de Calleja, as vicar general of the bishopric of Calahorra and La Calzada, signature licence once the council had demonstrated that the parish church had sufficient funds to undertake the project to meet its daily expenses. The council contracted the work to Antonio Elorza for 400 ducats, an amount that could be increased by 25 ducats if the master stonemasons' appraisal indicated so. The council set seven conditions, which consisted of lowering the wall to the same level as the vaults, from which a semicircular arch and another cross arch would be built to support the weight of the structure. This arch would be the source of a long dispute between the parties because it did not comply with the conditions of being 26 feet long and 3 feet thick. The tower was to be 18 feet high from the place where the bells were located, and an arch would be opened to the west to place them there again. The exterior was to be made of ashlar with a slope to drain water, and the interior was to be made of masonry. The whole structure was to be covered with a roof decorated with a small pilaster at each corner topped with a ball. The construction was to be completed by the feast of St. Michael in 1762. Thus, Elorza won the auction, with the conditions and budget in August 1761.

The lawsuit over the execution of the work

Once the deadline set by both parties had passed, José del Castillo, representing the town council, and Martín Maduro, representing Elorza, inspected and assessed the bell tower in their capacity as master builders. Both agreed that it complied with the established width and exceeded the height by two and a half feet, meaning that the town council had to pay an additional 258 reales, on the understanding that this improved the work. However, both parties agree that the arch and a half on which the tower rests was weak and that the masonry wall had already suffered some damage. As a result, they conclude that the arch must be improved, understanding that it would not support the weight once the bells and the roof were in place. In view of this decision by the overseers, the factory manager requested that the necessary measures be taken before continuing with the work. In response, José Celedonio de Ayala, as archdeacon and dignitary of the collegiate church of Logroño, sent the master stonemason José Barinaga to inspect the tower. He said that the main arch was broken and that this could damage the church building. Antonio Elorza sought to defend himself and sent two new master builders to inspect the construction. In this case, it was Juan de Idruja and Juan Bautista de Alday who stated that the work was not in danger. Faced with this contradiction, Eugenio Pérez de Azpeitia, acting as judge of the commission in this case, forced Elorza to dismantle the tower under penalty of excommunication, requested that all his assets be confiscated, and sent Millán Carpintero Ibarra, prior of the ecclesiastical court of the bishopric, to inspect the work. 

Once again, Antonio Elorza opposed this resolution and Martín Beratua was sent to inspect the status the bell tower. He reported that it was indeed in poor condition. Beratua proposed that Antonio Elorza build thicker arches at his own expense goal together with the existing ones, they could support the weight of the structure. However, this solution never came to fruition, as in March 1763 the tower began to show significant damage. This forced Martín Beratua, now together with Martín de Arbe, to once again recognize the urgency of the work and decide that the construction should be dismantled. Master carpenters Jerónimo Arregui and Antonio Olalde, together with their respective workshops, dismantled the tower and removed the rubble. Thanks to the documentation, we know that the dismantling began with the masonry sections on the north and east sides, which were lowered to the height of the arches, as these walls were in ruins. Subsequently, the south and west walls were tackled in order to prevent water and wind from damaging them. 

Plan for the bell tower of the parish church of Marañón. c. 1763. Photograph: ©L. Argáiz.

Consequently, we can affirm that by the end of March 1763, the work that Antonio Elorza had built months earlier had been dismantled up to the height of the arches that had caused the ruin of the work. The textual sources do not provide any further information on what happened next, although we understand that the business building a bell tower for the parish church must have been resumed immediately. It is also easy to conclude that the drawing we have corresponds precisely to this second stage of project. Looking at the graphic document, we can deduce that the arches colored in red are those left by Antonio Elorza and that the new master builder proposed to build others under the first ones to strengthen the construction, as Martín Beratua had suggested. If we look at the exterior of the building, we see that the same layout and conditions as those signed by Elorza have been maintained. Thus, we can see the square floor plan of the tower made of ashlar on the outside, the opening on the upper floor of the semicircular arches in which to place the bells, and the roof decorated with four small pilasters at each corner, topped with balls. The only thing that remains to be ascertained is the identity of the person who built the bell tower that has survived to the present day. Judging by the signature that appears on the drawing, the most viable option is to attribute the bell tower to Juan Antonio Chasco, a master builder who we know worked in the archpriesthood of Viana in the last third of the 18th century. 

bibliography

Calahorra file (ACC). Lawsuit concerning the bell tower of Marañón. Ref. 22/763/53. We would like to thank Canon Archivist Ángel Ortega for allowing us to consult the documentation in file Calahorra file . We would also like to thank L. Argáiz for his generosity in taking the photographs. 
GOÑI GALARRAGA, J.M., "Six dioceses in the western Pyrenees-Cantabrian Sea-Ebro River triangle: Calahorra (I), Pamplona (II), Santander (III), Vitoria (IV), Bilbao (V), San Sebastián (VI)." In report : Hispanic ecclesiastical geography and church archives, Hispanic-Mozarabic saints in the dioceses of Spain, 28, 2006, pp. 619-694.
PAYO HERNANZ, R.J.; ZAPARÁIN YAÑEZ, M.J. (2022), Plans, projects, and designs of the Modern Age in Burgos: in the provincial file (1575-1802). Burgos, Chair Artistic programs of study Alberto C. Ibáñez, 2022, pp. 76-79.
Various authors. Catalog of Navarre. II** Merindad de Estella: Genevilla-Zúñiga, Pamplona, Institución Príncipe de Viana, 1983, pp. 315-317.