Iglesia de San Lorenzo: A major work of Neoclassicism

The Iglesia de San Lorenzo, one of the traditional parishes of the historic center, was built between 1788 and 1810. Despite interruptions during construction, it stands as a major work of Neoclassicism in Murcia and the southeast of the Iberian Peninsula. The origins of the parish of San Lorenzo martyr date back to the times of the conquest of Murcia, and from the beginning of the Castilian rule in 1266, Christian worship was arranged in several former mosques in the medina, among which would be the Iglesia de San Lorenzo. The new temple was consecrated on August 10, 1810, by the new prelate of the diocese, D. José Ximénez. The parish was declared a Bien de Interés Cultural in 1980.

Ventura Rodríguez, the architect, also designed the dome-shaped finishing of the tower of the Catedral de Murcia. The church's design is inspired by the Iglesia de San Marcos in Madrid, also created by Ventura Rodríguez. The church consists of three elliptical spaces of different sizes, corresponding to the nave, the two first spaces, and the presbytery, the third.

The main facade of the church is crowned by a triangular pediment. The Cristo del Refugio, a significant piece of the church often associated with Jerónimo Quijano, was venerated in the hermitage of Santa Quiteria until all the imagery passed to the new church of San Lorenzo. The image is located in an eclectic retable by the modernist architect Joaquín Dicenta Vilaplana. The Dolorosa de San Lorenzo, replicating Salzillo’s famous Dolorosa for the Cofradía de Jesús Nazareno, is a mid-18th-century work by Francisco Salzillo. A Santa Rita of Casia, confirmed as a work of the Murcian master, can also be found in the church, alongside a San Juan de la Cruz attributed to the sculptor Nicolás Salzillo.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons