Church of Santiago Apostol in Villamorón
The association “Friends of Villamorón”
The association “Friends of Villamorón” was created at the end of 2003 due to an interesting article of the writer Óscar Esquivias,
(https://elpais.com/diario/2003/01/04/viajero/1041718092_850215.html), that attracted the attention of people not related to Villamorón, who, along with the neighbours of the village, decided to join forces to save the magnificent church of the Apostle Saint James from the ruin and promote the investigation, restoration and knowledge of this temple, declared Monument of Cultural Interest, a title that shows its great cultural value.
Nowadays the Friends of Villamorón consists of 70 members, who, in spite of the fact of not living in the village and standing the logical ups and downs of live, have shown enough resilience so as not to forget their roots and fulfil the aim they had in mind from the very beginning, something that will be fully achieved at the end of this year with the restoration of the main altarpiece, the latest of the great projects carried out to restore the splendor to this beautiful church, being left only a few details for the coming years.
Achievements of our association
The Friends of Villamorón have achieved many accomplishments since the association was created twenty two years ago. Among them we could point out:
- rescuing the church, known as “the Cathedral of the moor” from the ruin and oblivion, consolidating its future;
- opening the building to different cultural activities, without forgetting its main aim, although the mass is celebrated there only once a year, during the festivity of its patron saint, the Apostle Saint James;
- organising guided visits to explain the history of this church and promote people’s interest on their historical heritage, especially, the religious one;
- advising other grassroots associations in villages with similar aims on the care of their heritage, paying special attention to that related to churches;
- planning crowdfunding campaigns along with Hispania Nostra in order to get funds and attract the interest of all kind of people;
- spreading the value of the church of Villamorón and the work of our association through different means: international and national press, social networks or our web: https://www.amigosdevillamoron.com/?page_id=96;
- making our district attractive for cultural projects like the one of “Villas del Brullés” (https://www.amigosdevillamoron.com/?page_id=352) or more recently the one called “14 stars in the northwest of Burgos” (https://www.archiburgos.es/2025/03/17/ars-burgensis-14-estrellas-noroeste-burgales/)
Short history and importance of the “Cathedral of the Moor”
Although there are neither documents about the date of foundation of this magnificent church nor information about the people who ordered its construction, it can be said that it is an example of the transition from the Romanesque to the Gothic style around the middle of the 13th century. With a clear French influence, as it was not built with the Castilian feet of the time, but following the well-known Parisian feet, it was erected thanks to groups of craftsmen who had worked shortly before on the Cathedral of Burgos and the monastery of Santa María la Huelgas Reales in the same city. It is, in fact, the first church to introduce the Gothic style in the province of Burgos.
The so called “Andalusian Fernandine churches” of Córdoba and Seville were inspired in this church and in other ones nearby; they disappeared in Seville because of an earthquake in the 17th century, but they still stand up in Córdoba, where there is a touristic route that allows to compare the medieval style of the north like in Villamorón with the one taken to the south of Spain during the Reconquest of that territory by the king Ferdinand III the Saint in the 13th century.
For this reason, this church, known as the “Cathedral of the Moor”, is a clear example of medieval Europe, when there was neither internet nor social networks, but, in spite of that, good ideas were well known and travelled among kingdoms and countries:
https://www.amigosdevillamoron.com/?page_id=96
Challenges to breathe new life to this historical building in a rural areas
Villamorón is a clear example of inner Spain, usually described with adjectives like “empty, hollowed out, etc.”, very much in fashion nowadays in our country to explain the harsh circumstances of a huge part of the Spanish territory. It is a vast area full of natural and historical attractions, that has to do little or nothing with the so frequent and massive sun-and-beach tourism, where the historical legacy of religious heritage stands out in a very special way, suffering from the same situation as the territory it belongs to.
Villamorón is a clear example of inland Spain, usually described with adjectives such as ‘empty, hollowed out, etc.’, which are very fashionable nowadays in our country to refer to the harsh circumstances of a large part of the Spanish territory. It is a vast area full of natural and historical attractions, that has little or nothing to do with the so frequent and massive sun-and-beach tourism, where the historical legacy of the religious heritage, which suffers the same situation as the territory to which it belongs, stands out in a very special way.
It takes a great deal of civic courage to take on the challenge of restoring and revitalising such a magnificent temple as the Cathedral of the Moors in such a difficult context.
After twenty two years working as an association, with limited human and economic resources, the Association of Friends of Villamorón have achieved something unbelievable for many: to save their church from the ruin and oblivion, to attract the attention of many people and institutions and to bring it back to new life.
However, we are very realistic: after such a long time, many of the founders of the association are now elderly; therefore, they need someone to take over, and this is the big challenge due to the lack of population in our area and the lack of interest in this kind of cultural issues among the younger generations. Nevertheless, we are confident that the seed planted will bear new fruit.
By Pedro Moreno, President of the association “Amigos de Villamorón”.
Feature article published on 30 April 2025.
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