Church of Madre de Dios

Palace Square, 1

957670910.

The Dominican convent of Madre de Dios stands in the center of Almedina, between the castle and the church of Santa María la Mayor. It was founded in 1510 by the third count of Cabra, its prioress being Doña Juana Fernández de Córdoba, daughter of the founder.

The polygonal apse, made of stone and masonry, with Romanesque style buttresses remains from its first stage. Access to the temple is through a portico with an alfarje roof, where the doorway with a lintelled pattern is located, with concave and convex grid decoration on jambs and lintel, framed by a trilobed arch.

Its floor plan has a single nave and a transept with attached chapels that are covered with a barrel vault with lunettes. The church of the convent has two doors to the aforementioned atrium. The first of them belongs to the primitive factory and is the work of the time of the Catholic Monarchs. The other is of classic lines, of inferior merit and seems open already in the 17th century.

It is worth highlighting the vault of the main chapel attributed to Ruíz El Joven, according to the design given by Diego de Siloé. It is a polygonal oven vault, covered by vertical bands, ornamented with floral motifs and alternating with figures of apostles, angels and cherubs. In addition to the painting that presides over the main altar, there are sixty-four paintings in the altarpiece, of which the two canvases in the lower area stand out, which are attributed to the Bossanos workshop and whose theme is the Epiphany and the Adoration of the Kings. The choir, with Plateresque decoration, is located at the foot, whose carved wooden stalls from the 16th century are separated by balustraded columns and Ionic capitals, crowned with a cresting with a bust of the apostles, saints and fathers of the church.

In the walls of the church and on the floor there are interesting remains of tiles from Cuenca from the 16th century.