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SAINT MARY MAGDALENE
Church of Saint Mary Magdalene, popularly known as the «Harbour Church». This temple was built thanks to the deep faith and great devotion of the people of Hondarribia, both the wealthy classes and the people of the sea. Since its construction it has been visited by many travellers, merchants and pilgrims who on their way to Compostela found moments of peace, recollection and prayer here. In 2023 its centenary will be commemorated.
For a long time, Hondarribia had two very different areas. On the one hand, the one that lived inside the walled enclosure where the commerce, the civil, military and religious administrations, the noble houses were concentrated. All were subject to strict opening and closing times for the city gates. On the other hand, and outside of it, were the people who lived in the workers’ houses. It was a population that depended on fishing and that, for the most part, lived in the suburb of the port. This neighbourhood was a group of houses built around the primitive church of Saint Mary Magdalene, which must have been a hermitage-hospital and older than the parish of Saint Mary of the Assumption and the Apple Tree.
As time passed, the ban on building stone houses outside the walled area disappeared, the rushes dried up and better homes were built on the land reclaimed from the sea. Thus, the primitive suburb became a very populated neighbourhood. In the mid-nineteenth century, thanks to sea bathing and tourism, new houses, casinos and hotels arose. Then, the needs of all kinds increased, among them, to provide the neighbourhood with a larger church to replace the old one in the suburb of the port.
For this reason, in 1912 the town had the following idea: «the beautiful ideal of building a decent and capable public chapel in the populous and elegant neighbourhood of the port where God is worshipped and the necessary spiritual food is supplied to the town.» The City Council was asked for help to solve «the beautiful problem of bringing a deeply felt need, of promoting Christian worship with the splendour that the house of the Lord requires and today demands the aristocratic summer place, and spread the beautiful teachings of the Crucified so necessary to the welfare and prosperity of a people. (…)”
The City Council gladly accepted and a commission chaired by the mayor was appointed. The commission proposed three possible sites, but the conditions imposed by some of the landowners were insurmountable, so the project was shelved.
The idea gained strength again in 1920 and in the minutes of the City Council of July 30, what some neighbours want is explained: «The signatories, some owners and residents all during the summer season, in this City of Fuenterrabia, we respectfully state: That we have learned with pleasure of the initiative of the parish priest of this City in order to improve the premises for Catholic Worship in the port neighbourhood (…..) because the current chapel does not meet any of the conditions required by the decency of the Worship, for the assistance of the faithful and even for hygiene, urgently needs to find another more adequate place to fulfill our duties as Catholics, definitively abandoning the current chapel of the Magdalene.”
As a result of this, various popular subscriptions were launched with which, after hard work, the first stone was laid on April 17, 1921. On July 22, 1923, the feast of Saint Mary Magdalene, the new Chapel dedicated to her: “At nine o’clock in the morning, the blessing of the Church will take place. At half past nine the image of Saint Mary Magdalene will be moved in procession from the Old Chapel. And then the solemn High Mass will be celebrated, with which the opening of the new Temple will end.”
THE TEMPLE
Let’s start the visit by directing our attention to the triptych located on the stairs of the choir. In the centre is «The Holy Family» and on the right, Saint Candida Mary of Jesus (Juana Josefa Cipitria y Barriola) who was born in the «Berrozpe» village of Andoain on May 31, 1845. She founded the «Congregation of the Daughters of Jesus» and was canonized by Benedict XVI on October 17, 2010. In the window on the left there is another Saint.
Next, under the stained glass windows of Saint Christopher and Saint Stephen is the effigy of Saint Anthony.
Later, over the image of the Virgin of the Mount Carmel, patron saint of fishermen and sailors, we distinguish those of Saint Roch and Saint Joseph.
Next to the side door, there is the painting of «the Virgin and Child» by Javier Sagarzazu and, above it, we discover the stained glass windows of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
This side of the Epistle is completed by the stained glass windows of two Basque saints, Saint Michael Garikoitz and Saint Valentine of Berrio-Otxoa, over the carving of Saint Joseph.
Next to the access door to the sacristy, there is the image of «Our Lady of Perpetual Help» that comes from the old hermitage of Saint Mary Magdalene.
On the left, we see the majestic image of “Our Lady of the Sacred Heart of Jesus”. On this carving, in the book by Florentino Portu, it can be read that in what was formerly called «Chapel of Saint Jerome» of the parish, today dedicated to Our Lady of Guadalupe, there was an altar with three niches and different images:
“The image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus was placed on the altar of San Pedro and where it was, that of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, donated by Mariano Ameztoy y Mayo. This altar and image are currently in the Church of Saint Mary Magdalene (church of the port)”.
Surely the boat that seems to float in this place has caught your attention. Sailor votive offerings have been frequent as tokens of gratitude for favours granted and are kept as a reminder of past times.
Now it is time to turn our gaze to the head of the temple. We can see an ambo in the shape of a bow and the main altar delicately adorned with nets donated by the sailors of this city.
Surrounding the unique image of Saint Mary Magdalene, to whom the temple is dedicated and decorating the walls of the apse, we see the striking frescoes of the scene of the Miraculous Catch in Lake Tiberias. The figure of Jesus Christ, Lord of the Universe, dominates the whole. The Apostles in two boats cast the nets as indicated by his Master, with total confidence in his Word. It is a scene that perfectly represents the people of Hondarribia and is a reflection of the immense faith of the people of the sea, similar to that of the first followers of Jesus. The work was made in 1948 by the Irun painter Gaspar Montes Iturrioz.
To the left, between the altar and the majestic Cross on the wall, is the Tabernacle. The greatest treasure that we can find in this temple seems to go unnoticed, the Eucharistic Presence of the Lord in the Tabernacle. The living Christ has saved and redeemed us; he has freely given us eternal life and is always by our side.
We continue our visit, always in the opposite direction to clockwise. In these stained glass windows we see Saint Catherine of Siena and Our Lady of Mount Carmel on a curious relief of the Souls. In the foreground appear the souls in purgatory in a gesture of supplication, raising their gaze towards the Virgin who, situated in the centre of the composition, contemplates her children with tenderness and helps the purified souls to ascend to Heaven.
Next, above the carving of Saint Peter the Apostle, are the stained glass windows of Saint Michael the Archangel and Saint Teresa of Lisieux.
Next, above the image of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, patron saint of Gipuzkoa and founder of the Society of Jesus, are those of two Franciscan saints; its founder, Saint Francis of Assisi, holding Our Lord in one of his mystical ecstasies, and Saint Anthony of Padua, one of the few saints who is represented with the Child Jesus in his arms.
In the next set, on the carving of the Immaculate Conception, we see the stained glass windows of Saints Cosmas and Damian and that of the martyr Saint Lucy, patron saint of sight.
The last group is a triptych located above the exit door. In the centre «the Divine Shepherdess», to the right Saint Michael Garikoitz and to the left Saint Valentine Berrio-Otxoa. Among them, a canvas of “Magdalene” by an anonymous author.