Introduction

The desire to erect a worthy shelter for the reliquary image of San Fermín led Pamplona City Council to become the promoter of his Chapel, annexed to the parish church of San Lorenzo, which was built between 1696 and 1717, according to plans by the tracista Santiago Raón, Fray Juan de Alegría and Martín de Zaldúa. The financing, endowed with funds from the municipality and channelled through the exercise of its board of trustees, sometimes discussed and finally ratified in 1720, also involved Pamploneses and Navarrese of various kinds, some living in Madrid, mostly members of the Royal Congregation of San Fermín de los Navarros, set up in the Court in 1684; and others, dispersed in the Indies (Spanish America and the Philippines). After its inauguration, the Baroque Chapel of San Fermín underwent certain alterations. Thus, between 1800 and 1805, those undertaken under the direction of Santos Ángel de Ochandátegui, which, in addition to the reconstruction of the dome, affected mainly ornamental aspects, both inside the enclosure and, to a lesser extent, the exterior, of agreement with the academic taste of the time, a prelude to Neoclassicism. As a result, the building corresponds to the Baroque statement of core values , especially structurally, and follows academic classicist concepts, especially evident in the interior, as far as the ornamentation is concerned. As a result of a bombardment in September 1823, on the occasion of the expedition known as the Hundred Thousand Sons of Saint Louis, the Chapel was damaged and the lantern, the crowning glory of its dome, was demolished, but it was rebuilt in February 1824.