The Romanesque-Mudéjar architecture of Iglesia de Santa María

The Iglesia de Santa María is a Romanesque-Mudéjar building located in Melque de Cercos, in the province of Segovia. Known locally as Iglesia Vieja to distinguish it from the current parish, the building originally featured a single nave with a semicircular apse. During the 17th century, the apse wall was demolished and an expansion began, though the vault collapsed in 1980 because the walls had been hollowed out for burials.

The current state of the temple showcases the construction techniques of Mudéjar master builders, particularly in the arrangement of brick courses and the exterior walls made of calicanto. The exterior features a blind archway supporting a series of panels separated by a brick frieze. Inside, a rounded arch separates the nave from the transept, and a simple wooden roof covers the area where the original vault collapsed.

Two entrance doors originally existed on the north and south sides. The south door remains, featuring three rosettes inscribed within an alfiz and crowned by a complex cornice, leading to a frontón de pelota. While the north door was reconstructed using a photograph from the 1930s, the interior of the building now serves as a multipurpose room for exhibitions and other activities.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons