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ARCHIVED - 4th and 5th Sunday of every month, the San Patricio church tower in Lorca opens to visitors

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The tower of the ex-Collegiate Church of San Patricio in Lorca is open to visitors for the first time

The first visit to the bell-tower took taken place on St Patrick's Day, around whose figure a series of tourist activities in English have been programmed for the first time ever in the city.

From the bell tower, which is open to the public for the enjoyment of Lorca residents and to host tourist visits, you can see the historic centre of Lorca, as well as the castle, the city and much of the Guadalentín Valley with unique 360-degree views never before accessible.

Sr Morales stated, “We are very pleased with the addition to our tourist offer of this spectacular viewpoint as it is the bell tower of the most important church in Lorca.”

History and renovation of the Church of San Patricio bell tower in Lorca

The ex-Collegiate Church of St. Patrick is one of the three great churches in the world dedicated to the Saint, together with those in New York and Dublin.

From the top of the bell tower, visitors enjoy an amazing view of both the church itself and the Plaza de España at its feet, with the Town Hall in the background. The the entire historic town centre is visible with a special view of the churches of Santa María and Santiago, a large part of the city, the Calvary and the castle, as well as the Guadalentín valley.

The ascent to the bell tower is via a spiral staircase that leads to a room from which rises the new iron and wood staircase. These new stairs have been installed to provide more comfortable access to the bell tower with symmetrical steps that lead to the room where the bells are located at a height of 36 metres. The tower measures a total of 49 metres including the weather vane, and 44 without it.

In order to adapt the bell tower for visitors, an agreement was reached with the church to clean all the rooms and put in place safety measures for tourists.

The bell tower went through two fundamental construction stages. It consists of four sections on the outside and five on the inside and has a polygonal base. The foundations and the first two sections were built in stone masonry during the 16th century at the same time as the work on the sacristy.

In 1779, with the bells in place, the construction of the tower was completed with the construction of the cornice and the roof that crowns it. The entire bell tower is supported by an “orb” ball with a weather vane that is above the maximum area where visitors can now reach.

The bell tower is perfectly preserved today and allows us to see the progressive construction of the four sections separated by a continuous cornice, smooth and clean stonework walls, accompanied by a few decorative elements such as the columns, pilasters and openings. The lower section is decorated with Ionic and composite columns in the second section, marking a gentle contrast. The pilasters appear in the third section.

The oculi contrast with the rectangular shape of the balconies in the third and fourth sections, whose moulding plays with rectangular, segmental or rounded lines. The last section houses the bells and the top or roof is covered by a balustrade with pinnacles that serve as ornamentation.

It should be noted that the interior of the bell tower was restored in 2007, installing a new forging to secure it and the new staircase not attached to the wall like the original, which is what gives us access to the bell tower.

Visiting the San Patricio belltower

Guided visits to the church and the bell tower are scheduled for the second Saturday of each month at 12.30pm, while tours of the bell tower only are available on the fourth and fifth Sundays of each month at 11am.

The prices for the church or belltower are 9 euros and 7 euros at the reduced rate for pensioners. The guided tour of the church and bell tower costs 14 euros and 12 euros at the reduced rate. Tickets can be bought both online here and at the Lorca Tourist Office.

For more information about Lorca, visit the Lorca Today homepage

Image: Ayuntamiento de Lorca

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Plaza de Espana, 30800 Lorca

Tel: 968 441914 (Fax 968 466157)

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Oficina de Turismo de Lorca

Lorca Tourist Office

The rich and extensive history of Lorca has left a legacy of archaeological sites, and historic buildings, around which the modern City has built its tourism industry. Amongst these are Lorca Castle, the Jewish Quarter of the castle and Synagogue, Lorca Tourist Office Plaza de España, Colegiata de San Patricio, Museo de Arqueologico Municipal, Iglesia de San Francisco, Casa Huerto Ruano, Palacio de Guevara, Iglesia de San Mateo, Pósito de los Panaderos, Convento Virgen de las Huertas, Antiguo Convento de la Merced, Iglesia del Carmen and the Teatro Guerra.

Unfortunately Lorca has also been prone to natural disaster, suffering a Gota Fría on September 28th 2012, as well as an earthquake which measured 5.3 on the Richter scale on 11th May 2011 and claimed 9 lives. Since this earthquake the city has been rebuilding, winning recognition for its Lorca, Open for Restoration initiative, which used the restoration of the city as a tourist attraction whilst it rebuilt its historical buildings, some of which are currently still not open.

Lorca Tourist Office The tourist office itself has temporarily relocated until the renovations are completed and is on Calle San Patricio near the church.

Lorca also has an area of coastline incorporating the Parque Regional de Cabo Cope - Puntas de Calnegre, in the Sierra de Almenara, which includes the beaches of, Puntas de Calnegre, Baño de las Mujeres, San Lorca Tourist Office Pedro, El Siscal, Cala Honda, Cuartel del Ciscar, Junquera, Cala de la Gruta, Cala Leña, Los Hierros, Cala Blanca and Playa Larga, although many are accessible only through agricultural exploitations.

However, in spite of its many attractions, the name of Lorca is synonymous with Easter, (Semana Santa) its biblical parades of International Tourist Interest status and famous throughout Spain. The week includes a Lorca Tourist Office series of parades in which the whites (Paso Blanco) and blues (Paso Azúl) try to outdo each other with the magnificence of their embroideries and the skill and daring of their horsemen.