Description
It was built in the second half of the 16th century by the express desire of the Emperor Charles V. The traces were made in 1559 no less than by Francisco del Castillo "El Mozo," the prestigious Italian-formed architect, who led the works until his death, after which his brother Benito continued them. The factory made slow progress due to a lack of financial resources and was not yet completed in 1600. The temple was raised, as the customs of the Order of Calatrava established, over the place occupied by the ancient hermitage of Our Lady of the Star, and again it should be left under the name and protection of the Virgin. A single ship, with rectangular floor and drawer structure, which was covered by a false canyon and wood vault, has on its side niche chapels, opened by half-point arches, to host small altars. The dome near the presbytery retains in its breast the paintings of the 17th century, while those that can be observed in the intrados are from the second half of the 20th century.
On its outside it exhibits a commendable dignity and uniqueness despite the constructive simplicity and budgetary constraints. The main cover rises on a small staircase and is emphasized by the tower of the church bell tower, on which it is curiously located in its first body. Its disposition is, however, the traditional: a half-point arch with fillets on the imposts, framed by symmetrically modulated Corinthian columns that rise on pedestals that, in turn, give perspective of depth to the cover and support the empleamento, whose frieze contains an epigraphic text. It is topped by a triangular fronton with a salient held by mends. The most significant thing, without a doubt, is the Mannerist of the second body of the tower, a kind of ornamental mask with garlands, inspired by the drawings of Serlio, which denotes very clearly the authorship of Francisco del Castillo. The third body welcomes the bells and ends up in the form of a chapitel. It has another cover on a wall of scarcely decorated masonry on the west side, with terraced pilasters and half-point arch with triangular front. Repeat the scheme in a second body, on a small scale, to host a baking with the stone image of the Virgin. The church was declared in 1994 Good of Cultural Interest.
