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Date Published: 28/11/2023

Lorca church of San Juan to be restored and made into a community space

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The restoration project of the church of San Juan plans to recover its interior architecture with baroque decoration

Lorca church of San Juan to be restored and made into a community space

The Church of San Juan, which crowns the Lorca neighbourhood to which it gives its name, will be restored and turned into a centre that can host socio-cultural activities, according to an announcement made this Tuesday by Lorca mayor, Fulgencio Gil Jódar, who said the project aims to “consolidate, restore and rehabilitate the monument and its surroundings for cultural uses”.

The church, as the Mayor highlighted, is located in Zone I of the historic centre of Lorca, in the protected area of the Castle. “On the way up to the Alcazaba, a transcendental location for all the views and perspectives from the City and from the Castle itself.”

It is included in the Catalogue of Protected Assets with number 6 of the General Municipal Urban Development Plan of Lorca and Protection grade 2 of the Ministry of Culture, so the permitted works are consolidation, conservation, restoration, reform, partial demolitions and new construction.

The church dates from the 15th century and was rebuilt in the 17th century. “It is a Latin cross, built in stone and brick. In the transept there is an octagonal dome with large openings and a blue glazed tile roof in good condition. This same tile crowns the tower, located at the foot, with a circular base and octagonal top.”

However, the Mayor indicated that the church’s condition “is quite deteriorated”.

Initially it belonged to the late Gothic period, but it does not present any features of that time because it had to be rebuilt after the earthquake of 1647.

He added that “it has special importance for the City not only because it is an important monument, but because in its origins, in the 15th century, the Council met in its atrium”, although of the primitive Gothic church only its cylindrical tower remains, “which was a crenellated watchtower until the second half of the 18th century, which was later adapted as a bell tower.”

See more historical buildings, churches and monuments to visit in Lorca

In the mid-17th century, the church of San Juan's main chapel and tower underwent renovation, having been seriously affected by the earthquake of 1647, which demolished part of the upper parishes and an important part of the City to boot, ruining the nearby church of San Indalecio, built in the 16th century.

The decline of the San Juan church came at the same time as the Excolegiata Church of San Patricio gained importance in the city. The destruction of the images that adorned the main altarpiece, the parish archive and all its documents, occurred around the time of the Badajoz massacre of August 14, 1936 during Spain’s Civil War. Since then, San Juan disappeared as a parish church.

There have, in the past, been several attempts not at recovery, but at consolidation of the church. After the earthquake of May 11, 2011, it suffered a series of additional damages to those it already suffered.

While the building has a lack of roofing and the central vaults have disappeared, a good part of its magnificent interior architecture and baroque decoration are still recoverable, including the mural paintings that are still preserved today. It is surprising that, despite being exposed to the elements for so many years, it has so many original elements preserved and that can be valued.

That’s why the City Council is so intent on restoring and conserving the existing elements, and while they’re at it want to make it a usable space where community events can be held.

At a structural level, in addition to the consolidation and reinforcement of the walls and vaults that still survive, “a structure of laminated wood and phenolic board will be used to follow the order of transverse arches and vaults that have already disappeared, so that the structure itself creates spaces with the same geometry as the originals”.

In addition, as the current access to the church “is dangerously close to the road leading up to the Castle", according to the Mayor, a new access path will be built. Moreover, toilets will be built in the body of the old sacristy and administrative spaces too.

All the elements of cornices, stucco, pilasters, coverings and wall paintings will be cleaned, consolidated and restored, while the floor will get new marble paving with underfloor heating, through water pipes.

In total, 2,582,917.87 euros will be spent on this extraordinary restoration project, just one of many the City Hall is undertaking on its various historical buildings.