A conjuratory or exconjuratory (, , ) is a small religious building from which ceremonies were conducted to bless the fields and ward off calamities caused by the weather, like

storm A storm is any disturbed state of the natural environment or the atmosphere of an astronomical body. It may be marked by significant disruptions to normal conditions such as strong wind, tornadoes, hail, thunder and lightning (a thunderstor ...

hail Hail is a form of solid Precipitation (meteorology), precipitation. It is distinct from ice pellets (American English "sleet"), though the two are often confused. It consists of balls or irregular lumps of ice, each of which is called a hailsto ...

and excessive rain that could ruin the harvests. Usually these buildings are attached to a

church building A church, church building, church house, or chapel is a building used for Christian worship services and Christian activities. The earliest identified Christian church is a house church founded between 233 AD and 256 AD. ''Church'' is also ...

or a hermitage. were common in the ancient villages of the

Pre-Pyrenees The Pre-Pyrenees are the foothills of the Pyrenees. Description As a mountainous system the Pre-Pyrenees are part of the Pyrenees. They run parallel to the main mountain range in a west to east direction. On the French side the Pyrenees's slope ...

and the

Pyrenees The Pyrenees are a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. They extend nearly from their union with the Cantabrian Mountains to Cap de Creus on the Mediterranean coast, reaching a maximum elevation of at the peak of Aneto. ...

, especially in

Aragon Aragon ( , ; Spanish and ; ) is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces of Spain, ...

Description

Exconjuratories were usually built in a symmetrical way, with large windows open to the four

cardinal points The four cardinal directions or cardinal points are the four main compass directions: north (N), south (S), east (E), and west (W). The corresponding azimuths ( clockwise horizontal angle from north) are 0°, 90°, 180°, and 270°. The four ...

. In some places the exconjuratory is part of the

bell tower A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell to ...

of a church. On the fourth floor of the main tower of the

Cathedral of Murcia The Cathedral Church of Saint Mary in Murcia (Spanish: ''Iglesia Catedral de Santa María en Murcia''), commonly called the Cathedral of Murcia, is a Catholic church in the city of Murcia, Spain. It is the cathedral of the Roman Catholic Dioces ...

there are four conjuratories. Located in each corner, special ceremonies were conducted in them by priests to ward off storms that could spoil the harvest in the fields by means of the

Lignum Crucis According to Christian tradition, the True Cross is the real cross on which Jesus of Nazareth was crucified. It is related by numerous historical accounts and legends that Helen, the mother of Roman emperor Constantine the Great, recovered the ...

kept in the cathedral. Other towns in the

Region of Murcia The Region of Murcia (, ; ; ) is an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain located in the southeastern part of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast. The region is in area and had a popul ...

like Cieza, had conjuratories as well. Conjuratories could also be used to ward off other non-weather-related catastrophical events afflicting the community, like

epidemic An epidemic (from Greek ἐπί ''epi'' "upon or above" and δῆμος ''demos'' "people") is the rapid spread of disease to a large number of hosts in a given population within a short period of time. For example, in meningococcal infection ...

s and crop-damaging

pests PESTS was an anonymous American activist group formed in 1986 to critique racism, tokenism, and exclusion in the art world. PESTS produced newsletters, posters, and other print material highlighting examples of discrimination in gallery represent ...

, like

locust Locusts (derived from the Latin ''locusta'', locust or lobster) are various species of short-horned grasshoppers in the family Acrididae that have a swarming phase. These insects are usually solitary, but under certain circumstances they b ...

s. They fell into disuse centuries ago and many of the exconjuratories that have survived are in a ruined state.

Rituals

The ''Tentenublo'' (in

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

) is an example of the prayers conducted in special occasions within the conjuratories:

Gallery

File:Evol 25.jpg, Ruined exconjuratory in the Saint André church,

Èvol Olette (; ) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France. Its village of Évol is a member of Les Plus Beaux Villages de France (The Most Beautiful Villages of France) Association. Geography Olette is located in th ...

Pyrénées Orientales The Pyrenees are a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. They extend nearly from their union with the Cantabrian Mountains to Cap de Creus on the Mediterranean coast, reaching a maximum elevation of at the peak of Aneto. F ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

File:034.Asín de Broto - Esconjuradero.JPG, Exconjuratory in

Asín de Broto Asín de Broto is a locality located in the municipality of Broto, in Province of Huesca, Huesca province, Aragon, Spain. As of 2020, it has a population of 28. Geography Asín de Broto is located 78km north-northeast of Huesca. References

...

, Aragon File:035.Asín de Broto - Aintror de l'esconchurador.JPG, Interior of the exconjuratory in Asin de Broto File:Pallerols63.JPG, Exconjuratory at Pallerols,

Ports de Beseit Ports de Tortosa-Beseit (), also known as Ports de Beseit, or simply as Els Ports or Lo Port by locals, is a limestone mountain massif located at the north-eastern end of the Sistema Ibérico, a complex system of mountain ranges and massifs in ...

, close to

La Sénia La Sénia is a town and municipality in the province of Tarragona, in the autonomous community of Catalonia, Spain. It is part of the Montsià comarca. Throughout the 20th century and up to the present day, La Sénia has been recognized for its ...

File:Torre Campanario Catedral de Murcia.jpg, Cathedral of

Murcia Murcia ( , , ) is a city in south-eastern Spain, the Capital (political), capital and most populous city of the autonomous community of the Region of Murcia, and the Ranked lists of Spanish municipalities#By population, seventh largest city i ...

bell tower showing the conjuratories located in the corners of the third tier File:206.O Pueyo d'Araguás - Ilesia d'a Santa Cruz.JPG, The church of

El Pueyo de Araguás El Pueyo de Araguás (in Aragonese language, Aragonese: ''O Pueyo d'Araguás'') is a municipality located in the Huesca (province), province of Huesca, Aragon, Spain. According to the 2018 census (Instituto Nacional de Estadística (Spain), INE), ...

has a conjuratory up in the bell tower File:Iglesia de Santo Tomás - Campanario y cúpula2.jpg, The Santo Tomás parish church in

Haro, La Rioja Haro () is a town and municipality in the northwest of La Rioja province in Northern Spain. It hosts the annual Haro Wine Festival, as it produces red wine. Its architectural heritage includes the plateresque main entrance of the Church of Sant ...

also has a conjuratory in its bell tower File:Evol 25.jpg, Conjuratory in front of the ''

Saint-André d'Évol Church The Saint-André d'Évol Church ( Catalan: ''Sant Andreu d'Èvol'') is a Romanesque Catholic Church in the hamlet of Évol, in the commune of Olette, in the French department of Pyrénées-Orientales within the Occitania region. Built in the 11t ...

References

External links

*
Esconchurador d'a Cruz Blanca
{{in lang, es
Hiking Route, including images and references about ExconjuratoriesConcatedral de Santa María de La Redonda - Logroño"Esconjuradero" label in FlickrCarmen Gozalo de Andrés, ''Meteorología popular: Acordarse de Santa Bárbara cuando truena''
Christian practices Christian buildings and structures in Spain