Church of Nuestra Señora de la Asunción

The Church of Nuestra Señora de la Asunción and the old convent of Santa María Magdalena de la Cruz are part of the convent founded by the Dominican Order in the town of La Guardia de Jaén. Construction at the current location began around 1539. Initially Gothic in style, the layout initially followed a project drafted by Domingo de Tolosa. It was later deeply revised by Andrés de Vandelvira, who imprinted his personal Renaissance stamp on the temple and cloister loggia.

Although the contract signed by Vandelvira set an execution period of two and a half years, the architect's work took a total of twenty-six years, which led to a new commission for Francisco del Castillo el Mozo, who built the arch over the choir; the enclosure of the façade, it ended the gallery of the cloister and adorned it with a fountain dedicated to María Magdalena, the patron saint of the convent. This fountain dates back to 1577, the end of the last construction period, and of all construction on the convent.

After the Civil War, the church became a parish church, thus recovering from a long period of abandonment due to its confiscation. The rest of the convent rooms were either sectioned off or later underwent major renovation, resulting in the current state of the complex, whose cloister and many of its attached rooms were occupied until the end of 2007 by the San Sebastián Olive Oil Cooperative.

The convent of Santa María Magdalena is an important heritage site in La Guardia de Jaén and one of the greatest examples of the architecture of the master builder Andrés de Vandelvira, who gave the church an iconographic program of great value, and the only example that we know in his production of an octagonal headboard.

References:

• Wikipedia

Address

Camino de Martín Conde 3, La Guardia de Jaén, Spain

Details

Founded: 1539
Category: Religious sites in Spain