I have heard of this town in the history of Spain since birth ; however, never was in it. We were looking forward to visit Valencia when as a child I had an aunt living just south in El Saler. I decided to take the family on my road warrior trail and I saw Alarcon and decided on the way back to stop by. This we did, and now nice memories of Alarcon, do see my other posts on it, The town is part of the province of Cuenca, in the Castilla La Mancha autonomous community, about 87 km from Cuenca, I like to tell you about the curiosities of Alarcon !!! Hope you enjoy it as we did.
There is the nice old 13C Church of Santa Trinidadat Calle de Santa. Trinidad, 1, as you entered the town after the castle. It is the oldest church in Alarcon with Roman and Gothic elements. The church is in a rectangular laidout with two naves, one from the 13C and one from the 16C, although the vault of the oldest nave is from the 15C. They emphasize in her the fajones arcs and pointed formeros, a triumphal arch of entrance to the presbytery, and a Renaissance altar. The cover is typically plateresque; It exhibits the shields of the Marquis de Villena, Diego López Pacheco, and of which he was bishop at the time, Diego Ramírez de Villaescusa. The tower stands on the so-called Arco de la Villa. The current apse is rectangular and replaces another circular Romanesque. The square tower has three bodies: the first open with a semicircular arch on which there is a split triangular pediment that houses a mirror and a stone cross in its center; the second rectangular with a square window in the center; the third destined to be a bell tower with a bell hole on each side with a semicircular arch, topped by an entablature cornice; on the cornice there is a perimeter parapet of ashlar masonry, carved as a balustrade. The Church of Santa Trinidad has two naves and three adjoining chapels. It is the result of various constructive interventions, from its origin, as a church with a single nave erected in the 13C, to which another smaller width was added at the beginning of the 16C. In this last century, the current portal, two chapels and the tower were also erected, while in the 17C a chapel was created next to the head of the second nave. Between 1964 and 1967, the church was restored.
There is another interesting monument , that is the Church of Santo Domingo de Silos in late Romane style from the 12C which we had no time to see on this trip. The church still maintains architectural elements from the 15C and 16C, such as the transverse arches, the former walls and the transitional Proto-Gothic portal, as well as a Renaissance-style tower. It preserves some of the treasures found in Alarcón, such as the Gothic vault in the shape of a triangle that still preserves part of the 15C polychromy.
There was another surprise inside a former church! The Center for Contemporary Arts on mural paintingssits right in the former church of San Juan Bautista, located at Plaza Infante don Juan Manuel, s/n, The current construction dates from the 16C and replaced another of Romanesque style. It has a single nave covered with a barrel vault, a cover of Juan de Herrera (Herrera style) and a tower that has endured from the primitive church. The side walls are stiffened by buttresses that, contrary to the usual, are manifested by the interior delimiting spaces that pretend to be small chapels. The Center for Contemporary Arts on Mural Paintings has used the ruin, abandonment and desolated church of San Juan Bautista , However, for centuries, a beautiful Herrerian church was erected at the end of the 16C in the main square of Alarcón, In 1994 the young Spanish painterJesús Mateo initiated the project to cover the entire old church with a set of wall paintings, The work is defined as other worlds prior to the presence of man on Earth, at the same origin of life, to the world of dreams, in which anguish, life and the end are mixed among many others, a plastic language full of drama. This contemporary work has been officially sponsored by UNESCO since 1997 for its high world artistic interest, It is considered one of the high peaks of the world of contemporary art.
The City Hall or Palace of the Council, in the Plaza del Infante Don Juan Manuel was built on an old Renaissance exchange house with low arcs. Lovely architecture me think.
The City of Alarcon on its heritage, see churches : https://ayuntamientoalarcon.es/patrimonio/
The official Mural of Alarcon : https://www.muralalarcon.org/en/works/studio
The Castilla La Mancha regional tourist office on the center for mural paintings : https://en.www.turismocastillalamancha.es/patrimonio/centro-de-arte-pintura-mural-de-alarcon-16161/descripcion/
There you go folks, another dandy town of the nostalgic province of Cuenca, It takes a lot to see the off and beaten path of my dear Spain, all worth it , Again, hope you enjoy this post on the curiosities of Alarcon as I.
And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!
Paris1972-Versailles2003 