Santuario de Santa María Magdalena

The obligatory visit of the traveler who arrives at Novelda is to the Sanctuary of Santa María Magdalena. This religious building was built from a project drawn up by the novel engineer Don José Sala Sala who imbued his project with the Catalan modernist style. Its construction, begun in 1918, required three phases, to complete the work in 1946. Two 25 m lateral towers stand out on the main façade. of height culminated by a stony cross, which is also found in the dome and on the upper arches of the façade. The decorative reasons would have antecedents in the medieval styles, baroque and in the own nature; influences that led the author to combine pebbles from the Vinalopó river, polychrome tiles, bricks, reddish colors, masonry, etc., which are reflected throughout the exterior of the building. The interior is composed of a rectangular central nave with two attached side spaces; In the background, in the apse, is the dressing room of St. Mary Magdalene, Patroness of Novelda, and behind the altar we can admire a beautiful painting attributed to Gaston Castelló. The maintenance and restoration works are constant, the last of them carried out during the year 2006 where the pictorial recovery of several of the canvases that decorate the temple was carried out and among which the work of the renowned artist should be highlighted. Alicante artist Gastón Castelló located in the center of the altar.