Iglesia de Santo Domingo

Published on 18/01/2016

La Iruela (Sierra de Cazorla)

Monuments, Sierras de Cazorla, Segura y Las Villas Natural Park, Castles and Fortresses

It was originally built after the Christian Reconquest of La Iruela, and in the 16th century, the old Santo Domingo’s Church was replaced by a new one in Renaissance style.
Francisco de Cobos was commissioned for this new building, in which disciples from the great Andres de Vandelvira worked.
Its complex location - due to a very steep conditions of the terrain and the fact that it is holding ancient structures - was elegantly solved by building a temple with a similar floor plan to the nearby Church of Santa Maria de Cazorla.
It was set on fire and looted in June 1810 by French troops while fleeing, leaving the church in ruins. It has been used as a cemetery till 1954.
A theatre has been recently built next to it, emulating classical Greek style. Numerous cultural events takes place here in this beautiful location.

More about this place…

The present ruins of Santo Domingo’s Church belongs to the Renaissance temple commissioned by Francisco de Cobos in the 16th century, replacing the previous church in the same site built centuries before right after the Christian Reconquest of La Iruela. Located inside the castle walls and next to the theatre, which was built emulating the classic Greek theatres, the ruins remind us of the unfinished church of Santa Maria de Cazorla. The group made by the castle, the church and the theatre, is framed by a remarkable natural environment and it is a compulsory visit for those travelling through Sierras de Cazorla, Segura and Las Villas Natural Park.