Doing my road warrior way thru Castilla La Mancha was awesome, we spent several summers here and always in our minds to come back. Memories flashing in my mind hard to come up with words but we still remember those gone from our lives but not our minds. Alarcon is one memorable town. Of course, I have written more in my blog. It is about 87 km from Cuenca, the province capital city. Let me tell you about the Church of Santa Maria of Alarcon!!
The Church of Santa María is located in the center at No, 25 Calle Doctor Tortosa, The church as built between 1520 and 1565. It was erected in Plateresque style with tracery vault in the Gothic way. The cover is from the middle of the 16C, the altarpiece with scenes from the life of the Virgin and the sacristy. It is a large church, built in ashlar masonry, in the corners, buttresses and door and window lintels, being able to include them within the Renaissance style, although in the Diocese of Cuenca is spoken of in the Plateresque style. It is a work of transition, in which the passage from the forms of the Gothic to those already fully Renaissance is observed.
It is a columned church, with a hall floor plan and three naves covered with a ribbed vault. In the central nave, the ribs of the vaults form radiated stars, while in the lateral ones are simpler. It has a five-sided polygonal apse, flanked by columns that present a curious ornamental motif, a large shell ,a motif linked to the Order of Santiago, located at the intersection of the base and the shaft of the column. Said apse contains an important altarpiece dated around 1572, in which notable carvings can be found and where the main altar is located. On both sides of it there is a chapel and the sacristy.
The main entrance opens on the south side of the Church of Santa Maria. Outside, a large triumphal arch shelters the portico. This semicircular arch protrudes from the façade and reaches the height of the cornice of the building The temple is accessed through a semicircular vain door, with voussoirs and flanked by a pair of Corinthian columns between which there are two niche floors with a niche of shells, In the second body on the separating impost, corbels support a richly decorated balustrade, The north door is flared, with a lowered arch divided into quadrangular form and circular mirrors on the spandrels. On the west side of the church there is a small door in a semicircular vain with four attached ribbed archivolts.
The city of Alarcon on its churches, see Santa Maria : https://aytoalarcon.es/iglesias-del-pueblo-de-alarcon/
The Castilla La Mancha region tourist office on the Church Santa Maria : http://en.www.turismocastillalamancha.es/patrimonio/iglesia-de-santa-maria-51864/descripcion/
There you go folks, a dandy pretty old town of Alarcon in the province of Cuenca. The town is conveniently in the direction of Valencia and the beaches from Madrid along the A3 expressway worthy of a stop.Again, hope you enjoy the post on the Church Santa Maria of Alarcon.
And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!
Paris1972-Versailles2003 