JAÉN

The church and convent of Nuestra Señora de la Merced is located is an important church and has a Renaissance style.

It is located in the Plaza de la Merced and it forms together with the Palace of the Quesada-Ulloa and New Source a beautiful Renaissance buildings.

The convent of la Merced was built in 1580 over the old chapel of San Sebastian and was occupied by the Orden de la Merced, which was in the city since its reconquest in 1288, until the 19th century, when they were forced to leave because of the confiscations. The church was built later, at the beginning of the 18th century being blessed on January 23, 1727.

In 1885, a new community (Claretian) was installed. On July 20, 1936, during the Civil War, the monastery was attacked by militiamen who murdered five religious and the convents become a refuge. In 1970, the church was appointed parish with the name of Nuestra Señora de la Merced.

The main façade is Baroque with a rounded arch flanked by Doric columns. In the corner, there is a bell tower of four parts and ends with an octagonal structure.

On the eastern façade, we can observe another simple façade made up of a pointed archway bordered by frames and in the shaft, there is a shield of the Orden de la Merced.

It has a basilica floor with three naves. The nave is covered by a barrel vault, while the laterals naves have a niches chapels. The presbytery is covered by a vault with half-orange-shaped vault.

In its interior stand out the Retablo de Ánimas, made in the 18th century, several paintings from the 17th century, such as Santo Domingo de Silos with San Bartolome de la Cuesta and pictures of martyrdom San Bartolomé, Saint Serapion and La Virgen del Carmen and works by Cobo de Guzmán.

In the presbytery is located El Cristo de la Salud from the 16th century, which it is a work of the sculptor Antón de Cuéllar.

In the sacristy highlights a painting of the Martyrdom of St. Crispin and San Crispiano, that dates in 1636 and it’s attributed to Sebastián Martínez. Furthermore, in the sacristy there are conserved different pieces of silver from the 17th and 18th centuries.

In the gallery of the cloister, in its upper part, it is preserved a series of poorly paintings and some images of Niño Jesús in a Baroque style.

The cloister is preserved completely and its square is small, but very elegant. It has two floors and integrates an access stairs over half pointed arches separated by Tuscan pilasters on the ground floor in line from the last decade of the 16th century and the early 17th century.