SANT VICENT FERRER HERMITAGE
This hermitage dedicated to San Vicente Ferrer is located in the square of the same name (Plaza San Vicente). It was erected in the 17th century by the Dominican Fathers in order to venerate the Valencian saint of their order. It is probable that it was built over an old mosque, as this square was the nucleus of the Muslim quarter of Zeneta. Close to the Assumption of Mary Parish Church, the Hermitage of San Vicente Ferrer is ecclesiastically dependent on it.
It was on this site that the Town Charter of 1613 was approved for the new settlers of the town after the expulsion of the Moors, as is recalled on a ceramic tombstone.
The left façade of the church is attached to private dwellings. Its right side, which is visible, is built in masonry with lateral buttresses and a gabled roof. Its plain façade is divided in two by a yellow-coloured fascia: the lower part contains the lintelled doorway, flanked by two rectangular windows and a brown plinth; the upper part is topped by a triangular pediment in a belfry with a bell. The only decoration on the façade is a ceramic altarpiece with the image of the saint. A wrought iron cross with the anagram SVF rises above the roof.
Inside, we find a single nave covered with a barrel vault with lunettes and arches with floral decoration in plaster, made by Manuel Marco. The choir is delimited by a wooden balustrade. In the presbytery there is a large niche with a sober decoration and the carving of Saint Vincent, flanked by the Immaculate Conception and Saint Joseph.
During the Civil War, the chapel was dismantled and used as a school, and the Baroque altarpiece that adorned it disappeared. For this reason, all the imagery currently found inside the chapel is modern.
San Vicente Ferrer Patron Saint Festivities
The Patron Saint Festivities of San Vicente Ferrer begin on the Monday after Easter and have been documented since 1725. During these highly celebrated festivities, various popular and religious events take place, including the procession of the saint from the hermitage to the parish church.
During these two weeks an important agricultural, commercial and vehicle fair is held, which attracts visitors from all over the province. The festivities are held around the parish church of Nuestra Señora de la Asunción and the hermitage of San Vicente.
These festivities dedicated to San Vicente Ferrer, together with those dedicated to the Holy Family and the Holy Christ in October, are declared to be of National Tourist Interest.
San Vicente Fountain
Special mention should be made of the fountain that presides over the square: the San Vicente Fountain, also known as the “Travelling Fountain” because it was originally located in the Plaza del Centro, where the City Hall is now located. In 1957 it was completely dismantled and moved piece by piece to the Plaza San Vicente, its current location.
