A jewel of the artistic heritage of Córdoba is the capilla of San Bartolomé and today it is the only thing that remains of a church built between the last years of the 14th century and the beginning of the 15th century, in the Mudejar style. The new temple had … parochial character for the new collation erected in the Jewish communityafter the revolt against the Jews in 1391, which began in Seville, following the incendiary preaching of the canon Ferran Martinez.
In Cordoba, the Jewish quarter was attacked and there was a great massacre. This meant that many of those who lived there converted to Christianity, or at least were baptized be officially Christians, for fear of a repeat of the massacre that occurred. These converts needed a parish, which was built a few years later, between the end of the 14th century and the beginning of the 15th century. It had a single nave and a ribbed vault and materials of second hand as a way to save money in the face of lack of resources. Despite these savings, the work was not completed.
The founder of the Mudejar chapel could have been a Jewish convert called Diego Fernandez Abencaçintwenty-four from Cordoba. The shield of the Order of the Band appears on its walls, which would indicate that its founder belonged to it. This order participated in the battle of Aljubarrota (1385) which was a great setback for the Order and which would eventually disappear at the end of the 15th century.
In 1475, a son of its founder, Gómez Fernández, who was a professor at the Cathedral and posthumously declared a Judaizer, was buried in the chapel. His remains were exhumed and burned in 1499, while he was inquisitor at the court of Cordoba. Diego Rodriguez Lucero.
It retained its parish status until the 17th century. Don Teodomiro Ramírez de Arellano, in his “Walks through Cordoba”, states that in the middle of the 18th century one could see an inscription in Kufic characters where it was noted that it was originally a mosque, built in 976, under the auspices of Almanzor and his wife, to the greater glory of Allah.
When, well into the 18th century, what was called the hospital Cardinal Salazarwhere the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters is located today, the remains of this parish, which had ceased to be a parish in the 17th century, were incorporated into the hospital. The Saint-Barthélemy chapel has been declared Bproperty of Cultural Interest in 1931, but in the following years it suffered serious deterioration and some maintenance work was carried out, but it remained closed to the public. In 2006 a restoration was carried out and in 2010 it was inaugurated. It is owned by the Provincial Council.
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