top of page

Church of Nª Sra. De la Asunción

iglesiaw.jpg
Although the first mass was celebrated in 1581, it was not until the beginning of the 19th century that the complex was completed by adding the tower and the ashlar portico.

The main altarpiece, in Herrerian style, seems a humble imitation of that of El Escorial. It is made of carved and gilded wood. The first horizontal body rests on six Doric columns, the second on six others of the Ionic order, and the third on four Corinthians. In the last body, the attic, there is a Calvary bounded by two columns with a compound capital. The columns delimit spaces where wood carvings are located. Originally there may have been painted tables, in the style of other altarpieces, since the bases where the images rest do not belong to the altarpiece. Some of the figures that appear come from other hermitages of the town (that of San Sebastián, Santa Cecilia or María Magdalena). The distribution is as follows. In the first body, from right to left, San Sebastián, Santiago Apóstol, San Pedro and San Isidro Labrador. IN the second: Santa Inés, Santa Cecilia, San Judas and Santa María Magdalena. In the third Santa María de Cortona and San Benito. In the attic, the scene of Calvary, with the crucified Christ, the Virgin and Saint John.

.

In the lower part of the altarpiece there are images of the Evangelists, each one with its own symbol, in a small size of prolichrome wood, very deteriorated.

.

In the center of the altarpiece appears the figure of the Patron, Our Lady of the Assumption, and above it a scene of the Coronation of the Virgin.

There are other altarpieces in the church, two neoclassical and two other golden baroque.

.

The parish organ, located at the back of the main nave, next to the Gospel, was built in 1804 “with a technique and an aesthetic line typical of the best moments of the Spanish organism of the 18th century”, as Miguel affirmed in his day Ángel Avendaño Ruiz, who was in charge of its restoration in 1987. The following inscription can be read inside: “In Madrid, by D. Tomás Risueño, Organ-keeper of the four military orders, D. Francisco Piñeiro being Rector of the Holy Church of Lara, year 1804 ".

.

It consists of a 45-note short-octave manual keyboard, with split registers from the center C sharp, and has 619 tubes. It is one of the few organs that are preserved in the Dioceses of Ciudad Rodrigo and Salamanca.

organo.jpg

It is located on an old fort of the vetones similar to that of Las Merchanas, where later a castle was built, so it is dedicated to Santa María del Castillo. For more than 400 years it has been under the patronage of Our Lady of the Assumption. At that time (1581) the part of the main altar and the old transept were finished, all of carved stonework, in the Herrerian style. The architect was Rodrigo de la Gándara, Master of stonework, geometry and architecture, at that time a neighbor of Lumbrales.

.

It is of generous proportions: 50 meters long by 25 wide and 20 high in the central vault. It has a hall plan with a rectangular apse, although internally it simulates three naves with a transept separated by cruciform pilasters and attached columns. The roof is a false dome in the transept, and groin vaults with lunettes in the rest. The tower is square of ashlar masonry. At the beginning of the 19th century the tower was completed and the portico made of ashlar masonry. The last work was carried out on the 4th centenary of the first mass, in 1981, when the roof was changed, the tower was restored, the organ was fixed, and windows and doors were changed.

AltarW.jpg
The main altarpiece, in Herrerian style, seems a humble imitation of that of El Escorial. It is made of carved and gilded wood
The organ, built in Madrid in 1804, was restored in 1987 by the master Avendaño
bottom of page