La Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de Montserrat, La Pinilla

Churches Fuente Álamo municipality, La Pinilla

La Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de Montserrat.

Mass is celebrated at 12.30pm on a Sunday.

La Pinilla is a pedanía of Fuente Álamo and is located mid way between Las Palas and the main road connecting Mazarrón and Alhama de Murcia.

Formerly a stop-off point on a trading route, it has an interesting history, with evidence of both Roman and Arab activity, although much of what is visible in the town today dates from the main development of the hamlet in the 19th and 20th centuries

This is also true of the church.

The actual church itself is the second one to have been built in La Pinilla, dating from the 19th century and replacing  the first , which had originally been built in the El Fortín area of La Pinilla, now abandoned, although the original location of the Roman and Arab settlements.

The tower was added in 1956, and took 5 months and 15 days to build. The local villagers paid for the construction themselves, by seeking donations, and holding small theatrical performances to raise funds. Those who had no money contributed by supplying man power and labour, using their donkeys to lug the building materials required and lift the building materials up to the workers as the tower grew in height.

The church is built on the site of one of the greatest treasures in the area, a freshwater spring.

The Church was restored in January of 2010, the roof being an exact copy of the original.

The church was originally dedicated to the Virgen de Montserrat, but following the Spanish Civil War, devotion in the village was changed to the Virgen de la Luz, one of the few sculptures which escaped the ravages of the Civil war and which had been hidden throughout by villagers who concealed the image in their home for safety, carved by Sánchez Lozano.

There are also images in the church of San Antonio de Padua and san Ramón Nonatao.

Architecture

This little church has a single Latin-crossed nave, with four sections and an adjoining chapel on the side of the epistle. One of the sections is crowned by a hexagonal dome, which in turn is topped with an iron cross.

The main façade faces west, and the wooden door is decorated with geometric patterns. A tiled image of Nuestra Señora de la Luz can be seen in the upper right-hand part, as well as a plaque commemorating the origin of the clock which is housed in the tower.

One of the newest additions to the village is a sculpture by Murcian artist Antonio Campillo, the figure of  " A Coscaletas" presented to the village by the family of Madrid Conesa ( Los Penchos) in 2011.

Campillo is one of Murcia´s best loved sculptors and another piece cast from this same model is in the Parque Escultórico Antonio Campillo in Central Murcia.

For more information about La Pinilla and its history, Click La Pinilla

Another location linked to this church is the Vía Crucis which leads up to the Calvery overlooking the village. It´s a really nice little walk and the views at the top are well worth the effort. Click for Vía Crucis, La Pinilla.