The Stations of the Cross

Brotherhood and Penitential Confraternity of the Via Crucis of the Holy Christ of Health.

History

Córdoba is the first Western city devoted to the Via Crucis, as early as the beginning of the 15th century. From these remote origins comes the idea to form this brotherhood. It was founded in the Parish of San Juan y Todos los Santos in 1972, under the invocation of the Most Holy Christ of the Via Crucis, which was later changed to the Most Holy Christ of Health, thus restoring the traditional invocation of the Holy Christ. It held its first penitential procession on Holy Monday in 1973 and is known for the strictness of its rules and its promotion of love for Jesus Christ.

Temple

Parish of San Juan y Todos los Santos (Trinidad), founded by King Ferdinand III on an old mosque; the current building dates from 1710. Although its author is not documented, it is believed to be the work of master Francisco Hurtado Izquierdo. It is a single-nave church, with a small transept and a rectangular apse, as well as two 18th-century façades with Solomonic columns. It houses a remarkable set of 18th-century altarpieces, especially the one at the main altar. The tabernacle also features mural paintings by Antonio Palomino, depicting Old Testament themes.

The Images

The Holy Christ of Health

The image of the Holy Christ of Health is an anonymous work from the 16th century, specifically from 1590. Originally, it belonged to the now-defunct Confraternity of the Coronation, based in the former Conventual Church of the Trinitarian Order. It is believed that the reason for its invocation may be linked to the worship held during the great epidemics that plagued Andalusian cities.

It depicts Christ dead on the Cross, nailed with three nails and covered with an ivory-colored cloth of purity with flowers, knotted on the left side. His body is muscular, with bent legs, and his head leans to the right. His hair, not elaborately carved, falls over the right shoulder and mixes with a thick beard arranged in parallel spirals.

As the name of the confraternity itself suggests, the image of the Lord is carried in a Via Crucis, without a float and without music, making it a highly celebrated procession by the people of Córdoba, bringing a new touch of color to the already diverse Holy Monday in the city.

Nazarene Habit

Black tunic and hood, black slippers, and a rosary worn as a cincture.

Notable Insignias

• Guide Cross, a replica of the one in the Holy Cathedral Church, a work by the Granada sculptor Alonso Cano, made of birch wood by Rafael Centella (1992).
• Standard embroidered in gold and silk by Antonio Muñoz (1994).
• Processional lanterns for the Holy Viaticum made of brass, anonymous from the 18th century.
• Incense burners by Díaz Roncero (1992) in silver-plated alpaca, designed by Miguel Arjona.
• Turned wooden torches and four candelabras, by Miguel Arjona.