Mediterranean Cruise 2022 — Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fuensanta

Continuing Monday’s article on our 18 May 2022 arrival into Cartagena, Spain. As you’ll recall, we met up with our tour group and headed to an overlook high above Murcia and the surrounding Segura river valley. Dominating the top of this hill to the south of Murcia are Casa del Cabildo (also: Casa del Sacristán — House of the Sacristan), a Benedictine monastery, and the early 18th century Santuario de Nuestra Señora de la Fuensanta (Sanctuary of Our Lady of the Holy Fountain) Church (construction started in 1694). Today I’m going to concentrate on the church, including the interior, and the monastery.

As you can tell from the two photos above, Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fuensanta was built in the Baroque style. Not that Baroque is the only way to go in Europe. There are other great styles as well. As they say — if it ain’t Baroque, don’t nix it.

I know. Bad pun. Please forgive me as I take you inside for a look. The altar pictured below is a recent addition:

The original Baroque altar was destroyed by fire in 1936. This replacement altar was the result of a collaborative effort between Antonio Carrion Valverde and Nicolas Prados Lopez:

The blue-clad figure serving as the focal point of the altar is the Virgin of Fuensanta. Cradled in the crook of her left arm is, of course, the baby Jesus.

Time to look at some of the church’s stained glass:

Now let’s head back outside and take a look at the adjacent Benedictine monastery:

Next week we head into Murcia for more sightseeing and travel photography.

Слава Україні! (Slava Ukraini!)