Parroquia del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús

The Parroquia del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús serves the barrio de la Punta, one of the historic quarters of Torrevieja next to the harbour. Its origins go back to a hermitage approved in 1921 after years of municipal debate, intended so that residents and summer visitors in La Punta would no longer have to travel to the centre to attend Mass. Like the rest of Torrevieja, La Punta grew up around the port and the salt trade, and for much of the 20th century it also served as a summer destination for families from inland towns.

History

The first stone was laid in April 1922 and the first Mass was held that same August. During the Spanish Civil War, the building was used as a barracks, a common fate for religious buildings across the province in those years. In 1976 the original structure was demolished to make way for a larger church, and in 1978 the hermitage became a full parish. The building seen today, though, is more recent still: it was inaugurated in 2007, after two years of construction that replaced the 1976 building entirely and considerably expanded the space available for worship and everyday parish activities alike, from catechism classes to neighbourhood community meetings of every kind.

Architecture

It is a modern single-nave church, sixteen metres wide and nineteen metres tall, with side chapels and service spaces built into the structure itself. The interior is notable for its austere design, without the ornamentation of the city's older churches, such as the Parroquia Arciprestal de la Inmaculada Concepción in the centre. The La Punta neighbourhood around the church still keeps some of the narrow street layout from Torrevieja's early days, and it sits close to both the Parque de las Naciones and the Dique de Levante, along the seafront.