Alpargate Square in Cordoba, Spain
Alpargate Square
This square is known as Alpargate Square or Cristo de Gracia Square (Christ of
Grace), El Esparraguero (it is call that way because its processional pass is decorated with a lot of asparagus), as his devotes would say. This square was the link between the Ajerquia and the east enlargement of the city. In this place there was the Plasencia Door, and not very far there was the Inquisition bonfire. Not very far you can find two jewels: the fountan that decorates the square and the Church of Fathers of Grace. The fountain was moved from New Door to this place in 1950, when the architect Víctor Escribano Ucelay renewed the square.
Three bullfights were celebrated in 1747, to support economically the works. Not very far from from the Fountain there was a place where the bulls were taken to drink water and to eat. This was made on the way of the Fair. The vegetation around hide the beauty of the
fountain: it is made in limestone and it baroque. However someone reletes it to the Inca art. There is a high pillar that makes the basis with lines and circles. From this part start three pillars ended with three pinacles from which the water goes out.
The Church of Fathers of Grace begins in 1607. In that year the Town Hall allows the trinitaries to occupy the ancient Hermitage of Our Lady of Grace and at the same time they hava a little house close to it. The hermitage and the
house were the church and the convent of the trinitaries till 1680, when the works ended.
The façade was thought as a big altarpiece, as a great architectonic and sculptoric complex. There are three shouldered arches with trygliphs and metopes, crowned by circular split up pediments. This it the entrance of the temple. In the façade we find three sculptures into niches: Saint John Matha and Saint Felix of Valois (the founders of the Trinitarian Order). On another side there are some angels presenting the captives to the Holy Trinity, which is in the middle. All of them into
niches crowned by circular pediments. Above it there are the three virtudes: The Faith, The Hope and The Charity. The façade is ended witha big triangular pediment that keeps two more sculptures; they are two angels that flanks the central oculus. On the opposite vertexes there are Saint Michael Archangel and Saint Raphael Archangel whereas in the upper vertex there is the Virgin of Grace.
The church has a basilica plan covered by a barrel vault vault with lunettes, and a dome on groins. The dome is
decorated with paintings dedicated to David, Isaac, Abraham, Jacob, Ecequias and Solomon. The groins keep the shield of Don Pablo de Acevedo and his wife Doña Ana de Córdoba, patrons of the convent. As is usual in the cordovan churches, in the gospel side there are vary altars, whereas in the epistle side there are the chapels. Two chapels we would like to stand out: the one dedicated to Our Father Jesus Nazarene Rescued (popularly known as "The Lord of Córdoba"), ended with a little room, and that of the Holy Christ of Gracia, "El Esparraguero", that keeps the rests of Saint John Baptist of Conception.
The walls and the vaults are decorated with paintings, a lot of them deteriorated and they speak about the life of Saint John of Conception. One of the most important is that related to his death, sorrounded by the monks of the order or his vision of Christ and the Virgin.
Grace), El Esparraguero (it is call that way because its processional pass is decorated with a lot of asparagus), as his devotes would say. This square was the link between the Ajerquia and the east enlargement of the city. In this place there was the Plasencia Door, and not very far there was the Inquisition bonfire. Not very far you can find two jewels: the fountan that decorates the square and the Church of Fathers of Grace. The fountain was moved from New Door to this place in 1950, when the architect Víctor Escribano Ucelay renewed the square.
Three bullfights were celebrated in 1747, to support economically the works. Not very far from from the Fountain there was a place where the bulls were taken to drink water and to eat. This was made on the way of the Fair. The vegetation around hide the beauty of the
fountain: it is made in limestone and it baroque. However someone reletes it to the Inca art. There is a high pillar that makes the basis with lines and circles. From this part start three pillars ended with three pinacles from which the water goes out.
The Church of Fathers of Grace begins in 1607. In that year the Town Hall allows the trinitaries to occupy the ancient Hermitage of Our Lady of Grace and at the same time they hava a little house close to it. The hermitage and the
house were the church and the convent of the trinitaries till 1680, when the works ended.
The façade was thought as a big altarpiece, as a great architectonic and sculptoric complex. There are three shouldered arches with trygliphs and metopes, crowned by circular split up pediments. This it the entrance of the temple. In the façade we find three sculptures into niches: Saint John Matha and Saint Felix of Valois (the founders of the Trinitarian Order). On another side there are some angels presenting the captives to the Holy Trinity, which is in the middle. All of them into
niches crowned by circular pediments. Above it there are the three virtudes: The Faith, The Hope and The Charity. The façade is ended witha big triangular pediment that keeps two more sculptures; they are two angels that flanks the central oculus. On the opposite vertexes there are Saint Michael Archangel and Saint Raphael Archangel whereas in the upper vertex there is the Virgin of Grace.
The church has a basilica plan covered by a barrel vault vault with lunettes, and a dome on groins. The dome is
decorated with paintings dedicated to David, Isaac, Abraham, Jacob, Ecequias and Solomon. The groins keep the shield of Don Pablo de Acevedo and his wife Doña Ana de Córdoba, patrons of the convent. As is usual in the cordovan churches, in the gospel side there are vary altars, whereas in the epistle side there are the chapels. Two chapels we would like to stand out: the one dedicated to Our Father Jesus Nazarene Rescued (popularly known as "The Lord of Córdoba"), ended with a little room, and that of the Holy Christ of Gracia, "El Esparraguero", that keeps the rests of Saint John Baptist of Conception.
The walls and the vaults are decorated with paintings, a lot of them deteriorated and they speak about the life of Saint John of Conception. One of the most important is that related to his death, sorrounded by the monks of the order or his vision of Christ and the Virgin.
Text: J.A.S.C.
Traslated by Sara Moretti
Art, Culture and Tourism in Cordoba