Santuario de Santa María Magdalena, Novelda
A hilltop sanctuary shaped like a balm jar, the Gaudí-haunted dream of a Novelda man who lived in Catalonia.
At a glance
The Santuario de Santa María Magdalena crowns the hill of La Mola, beside a medieval castle, on the edge of Novelda. It was designed by José Sala Sala, a native of Novelda who was then living in Terrassa, in the heart of Catalan Modernisme, and who carried that influence home. Built between 1918 and 1946, the sanctuary is one of the most singular works of Valencian modernism, so close in spirit to Gaudí that locals call it the Sagrada Família of the Valencian country.
Key facts
- Location: Cerro de la Mola, above Novelda, Alicante
- Designer: José Sala Sala, of Novelda
- Built: 1918–1946, in three phases
- Style: Valencian Modernisme, in the manner of Gaudí
- Note: built by the master builders Ceferí Escolano and Antoni Amorós
History
José Sala Sala came from Novelda but had settled in Terrassa, the Catalan textile city where Modernista architecture was everywhere around him. From that vantage he drew up plans for a sanctuary on the hill above his home town, exporting the language of Gaudí to the dry uplands of Alicante.
Work began in 1918 and went on, with a long pause, until 1946, carried out on the ground by the Novelda master builders Ceferí Escolano and Antoni Amorós. The building rose slowly, shaped by hand, through the years of the Civil War and after, which is part of why it took almost three decades to finish.
The result is a deeply unusual church, dedicated to Saint Mary Magdalene, that owes more to Barcelona than to any local tradition. It has become the emblem of Novelda, standing beside the Castillo de la Mola as a pair of silhouettes on the hill.
What you see
The plan and profile are symbolic. The sanctuary is shaped like a jar, the vessel of balm that Mary Magdalene is said to have carried to Christ, and two tapering towers rise from it like a distant cousin of the Sagrada Família. The walls are faced in rough local stone, so the building seems to grow out of the rock of La Mola.
Up close the Gaudian debt is plain in the curved surfaces, the parabolic lines and the organic ornament, yet the sanctuary is no copy. It is the work of one man’s imagination, translating what he had seen in Catalonia into a form unlike anything else in the region, set in the open landscape rather than a city street.
Practical information
- Open: sanctuary and hilltop generally accessible; interior hours vary
- Cost: free to visit the exterior and grounds
- Best for: the twin towers and the jar-shaped profile against the hill
- Time needed: 30–45 minutes, more with the castle
Getting there
The sanctuary sits on the Cerro de la Mola, a short drive or steady climb above Novelda, which lies about 30 km inland from Alicante.
Nearby
- Castillo de la Mola — the medieval castle sharing the hilltop
- Casa-Museo Modernista de Novelda — the Modernista townhouse in the centre of Novelda
Sources
- Ayuntamiento de Novelda / Turismo de Novelda — Santuario de Santa María Magdalena
- Generalitat Valenciana — inventory of Valencian heritage
- Wikimedia Commons — image source and licence
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