Crypt of San Francisco

Church of San Francisco. 14th century

From the west side of plaza de Santo Domingo, calle Capitán Boixareu Rivera leads down past parque de la Concordis on the right. This street used to be called Jaúdenes, and is also known as La Carrera street. It was here that knights of old would ride to show off their skills and wealth. For this reason, today the processions of Corpus Christi and Holy Week also go up this street. The street leads to plaza de Bejanque and the church and fort of San Francisco.

Before the fort was taken over by the army in the 20th century, it was the convent of San Francisco, founded in the 14th century and much favoured by the Mendoza family. For many years now, it has been the headquarters of TYCE, an army engineering unit, and today it houses a permanent exhibition of industrial machinery.

Crypt of San Francisco

The church of the Convent of San Francisco, destroyed and rebuilt several times, preserves a lettle know treasure of great architectural importance: the gothic apse conceals the mausoleum of the Mendoza family; the design is based on that of the Mausoleum of the Kings in El Escorial. Thanks to the continued efforts os the City Council and with finance from the "One per cent for Culture" programme, the Mausoleum, a national heritage, has been reclaimed and opened to the public.