Concatedral de San Nicolás de Bari

The Co-Cathedral of San Nicolás de Bari stands at the centre of the Casc Antic in Alicante, on the site where, in 1244, Infante Alfonso ordered a church built after the city was surrendered by its Muslim rulers, an event that took place on the feast day of Saint Nicholas himself. The building seen today is much later, however: it was constructed between 1616 and 1662 to designs by architect Agustín Bernardino, on the site of the city's main mosque.

History and style

The church follows the sober, late-Renaissance Herreran style, with a Latin-cross floor plan. It retains a 15th-century cloister with Baroque-era doorways, which predates the church itself, and a Communion Chapel considered by many art historians among the finest Baroque chapels in Spain. In 1959 the church was raised to co-cathedral status, sharing its episcopal seat with the Catedral del Salvador y Santa María in Orihuela, an unusual arrangement that gives the diocese of Orihuela-Alicante its name, and one of only a handful of dioceses anywhere in Spain organised around two co-cathedrals rather than one.

The dome

The building's most recognisable feature is its dome, the work of local architect Miguel del Real, faced in blue ceramic and rising 44.79 metres to the lantern. It is visible from much of the Casc Antic and works as a landmark for finding your way through the neighbourhood's narrow streets. The Gothic-Renaissance cloister, with its later Baroque doorways, is still used today for parish events and occasional exhibitions, and several side chapels hold altarpieces and religious silverwork accumulated over four centuries of uninterrupted worship. The co-cathedral sits a short walk from other historic buildings in the city, including the Basílica de Santa María, the Castillo de Santa Bárbara above the district, and the Barrio de Santa Cruz itself.