church of Our Lady of the Forsaken

The Church of Our Lady of the Forsaken (Spanish: Iglesia de la Virgen de los Desamparados) is a small 19th-century church in Alcoi (Valencian: Alcoi, Spanish: Alcoy), a city in the province of Alicante, in the Valencian Community. It stands on Plaza de la Marededeu, right in the historic centre, squeezed between neighbouring townhouses — a common sight in Mediterranean towns, where a parish church is folded directly into the surrounding street front rather than set apart on its own grounds.

How to get there?

The church sits in Alcoi's old town, an easy walk from the city's main squares and pedestrian streets. Alcoi is best reached by car or bus, with regular connections to Valencia and Alicante; the nearest international airport is Alicante-Elche, roughly an hour's drive away. Plaza de la Marededeu itself is within walking distance of the bus station and the central car parks, and since it sits in one of the most prominent parts of town, finding it doesn't require any special local knowledge.

What will you see?

The building was designed by architect Jorge Gisbert Berenguer and completed in the mid-19th century in the Neoclassical style. It is a compact structure: its symmetrical façade is built around a cylindrical stone wall carved with geometric relief patterns and capped by a quarter-sphere dome with an open lantern at the top. That crowning element is what makes the church stand out against the flanking buildings, despite the modest footprint it occupies.

Inside, a dome resting on pendentives covers the space, pierced by four lunettes that bring in natural light — a solution common to church architecture of the period, here scaled down to a small parish setting. Seen from outside, that same dome is reflected in a drum that flattens and reinforces the whole volume, giving the façade extra visual weight. At the rear, a straight-walled presbytery holds a niche with the image of Our Lady of the Forsaken, the patroness whose cult remains active today — the parish still functions, and a lay confraternity (Hermandad de Nuestra Señora de los Desamparados) is organised around her devotion.

The interior decoration combines painting, gilding and polychrome work, closely integrated with the architecture itself, which gives the small space a sense of richness beyond what its size would suggest. It's a good example of how a sacred building squeezed into a tight urban plot can still combine its liturgical function with careful architectural and decorative detail.

When should you visit?

The church is worth including in a walk through Alcoi's historic centre, ideally paired with a stop at the nearby Santa María archpriestly church. Because of the active parish community and the confraternity built around the image of Our Lady of the Forsaken, the calendar includes services and celebrations tied to her cult throughout the year — it's worth checking local dates in advance if you want to catch one of these. Otherwise, as a working parish church, it's generally open around Mass times rather than fixed tourist visiting hours.

Frequently asked questions

Where exactly is the church located? On Plaza de la Marededeu, in the historic centre of Alcoi, in the province of Alicante.

Who designed the building? Architect Jorge Gisbert Berenguer, working in the mid-19th century in the Neoclassical style.

What's the most distinctive architectural feature? The cylindrical stone façade with geometric relief carving, topped by a quarter-sphere dome, and an interior dome on pendentives lit by four lunettes.

Is it still an active church? Yes — it functions as a parish church and is home to the Nuestra Señora de los Desamparados confraternity, which keeps the devotion to the patroness alive.