SAINT JOHN THE BAPTIST ALTARPIECE

SURROUNDINGS 

The collegiate church of St. Bartholomew (Colegiata de San Bartolomé) in Belmonte that was given its present status in 1459 is located in the upper part of the town together with the Old Citadel (Alcázar Viejo) built thanks to the initiative of Juan Manuel, Prince of Villena.

The first Marquis of Villena started reconstruction of the building towards the middle of the XV century when renovation work was carried out on a Roman temple with Visigothic precedents. Work was supposedly carried out by Hanequin de Bruselas and Egas Cueman; documents, however, only mention Martín Bonifacio, who was Cueman's foreman at Toledo Cathedral.

The church has three naves, a polygonal apse with seven branches and ogive arches. Its eleven side chapels have grilles and altarpieces of particular interest. Worth special mention are the magnificent choir stalls, made in 1454 by Egas Cueman for Cuenca Cathedral and moved to Belmonte some three centuries later. It is the first Gothic style church to incorporate a rich iconographic repertoire with biblical subjects, calendar and popular sayings.