Convento Franciscanos de Cocentaina

Religious

The current church and convent of the Franciscans of Cocentaina is situated on the site of an ancient hermitage of the 14Th century dedicated to the martyr St. Sebastian. In 1516 the friars remodelled the ancient building to found the convent. The building which has survived to our era has its origin in the last of 16Th century, when the building of the church was carried out in renaissance design by the brothers Andrés and Jaime Terol, under the sponsor of the counts of Cocentaina. In 1604 the work was finished, including the count’s gallery and pantheon. From that time onwards other diverse works were carried out such as the extension of the chapel of the Third Order or the ‘Santísimo Cristo’, which was finished in 1726, and was attributed to the master Tomás Peris. The perfect integration of the baroque and renaissance styles can be appreciated from the diverse rooms which are conserved inside. In your visit you can contemplate the baroque ornamentation of the presbytery, the recently restored gallery of the counts of Cocentaina, with their herald in a renaissance setting, wall paintings of the tabernacle the 18Th century, and the vault compartments of the cloister, in which is represented the life of Saint Francis of Asissi, work of father Antonio Villanueva. A possibly unique testimony of the ancient hermitage exposed in the chapel the gothic Cross carved in stone of the 15Th century, with a replica in the convent square.