Chapel of Luis de Lucena

Chapel of Luis de Lucena. 16th century

One of the most interesting buildings in Guadalajara is on Cuesta de San Miguel, the hill that goes from Santa Maria to the city centre. It is a masterpiece of brick architecture: the funeral chapel of Luis de Lucena, also known as Urbina Chapel, or the Chapel of Nuestra Señora de los Angeles.

The chapel was once adjacent to the church of San Miguel which no longer exists. The brickwork is in the traditional mudejar style, but its capricious style is more in the line of 16th century Mannerism. It was founded and perhaps designed by the humanist Luis de Lucena in 1540.

Little round towers under an unusual eave on the outside walls of the Chapel of Lucena imitate a military construction. According to Herrera Casado, it is probably a reference to the Fortaleza de la Fe, or possibly, according to Muñoz Jiménez, the Temple of Solomon.

The inside of the chapel is no less fanciful: the pilasters are a mix of Doric and Jonic styles, and the dais serves as a base for a spiral staircase leading to the upper floor. The vaults were painted probably by Rómulo Cincinato, who also worked on the palace of El Infantado. They are painted with symbolic and Erasmic iconography.

Information brochure in PDF.