The surviving 17th-century church of the Franciscanos Descalzos

In the town of El Puente del Arzobispo, the iglesia del convento de Franciscanos Descalzos stands as a solitary reminder of a lost religious complex. Funded entirely by Juan de Villarroel, the church dates back to the early 17th century. It serves as a shrine to Nuestra Señora del Majano, a title derived from the tradition that an apparition occurred over a pile of stones - a majano - to a sacristan of Alía.

The building features a Latin cross plan with a single nave divided into three sections, covered by barrel vaults. Its construction uses masonry walls reinforced with stone blocks at the corners. While most of the church's openings are now walled up, the access to the building and the communications with the convent dependencies are also currently blocked.

At the foot of the church, a brick espadaña stands out with its large volume, highlighting the height of the nave's crossing. The surrounding convent was destroyed in the first quarter of the 19th century. Following the community's departure, the church was used as a warehouse for hay and farming tools.

During the 1990s, all other structures linked to the convent were demolished, leaving the church as the sole survivor. Since then, it has suffered from a leaking roof and general decay. Recognized as a bien de interés patrimonial in 2017, the building's status as a heritage site has not prevented its decline. In 2024, the church was included in the Lista Roja of the Hispania Nostra association due to its deficient state of conservation, which threatens the total loss of the building.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons