"HOSPEDERIA DEL SEMINARIO CONCILIAR SAN JULIAN"

The Conciliar Seminary of San Julián is in the central Plaza de la Merced, one of the most charming places in the old town of Cuenca, both for its monumentality and for its location within the upper city. It was created by the architect Vicente Sevilla in 1741 by order of the Bishop Flórez Osorio, on the rest of the palace of the marquess of Siruela. Today, the future priests of the diocese of Cuenca continue to form here. Between the artistic jewels they emphasize the facade of baroque style, that dates from the year 1746; The cover, also baroque, of the chapel of the Seminary and its magnificent Gothic altarpiece, the work of the Master of Horcajo. There is a very important library of ancient background in one of the rooms of the building. Making a corner with the cover of the seminary, and also with a spectacular baroque cover, structured in three bodies, we find the church of La Merced, which gives name to the square in which it is. In its origin it formed part of the convent of mercedarios, installed in this place in 1684, next to the palace of the marquess of Cañete and the old Arab alcázar. It has a single nave covered with half-barrel vault with lunetos that produces a remarkable sensation of amplitude in height. Inside there is a beautiful Rococo balcony, designed by the brilliant Martín de Aldehuela. The great number of seminarians, in the first half of the twentieth century, made this Church become part of the Seminary. Since 2005, it is the Library of the modern background of the Conciliar Seminary. Its space is ideal for concerts, conferences, congresses, etc ... The seminary has two inner courtyards, around which the rooms are arranged. Some of them give to the mentioned courtyards; Others have beautiful views to the sickle of Júcar, while others overlook the pedestrian street of Santa María, which separates the Seminary from the Museum of Sciences of Castilla la Mancha.