Marqués de Ferrera Palace

The Marques de Ferrera palace, also called De la Moral palace, is integrated into several buildings of the centuries XIII, XVI and XVIII. It has remains of a tower, two palatial wings L shaped, a chapel and some stables.

It is located on the Olevarrieta Street, ancient La Zapatería Street and popularly known as Los Escalerones. El camino de Santiago crossed this street.

This tower seems to be the residence of the representative of royal power due to his designation of Torre del Merino. It could still see at the early twentieth century, as such in the tower, a square and volume of three water cover that overhangs of the palace complex. Today is one more element due to lowering its volume.

The palace is organized in two volumes of different epoch, linked by a room that holds thanks to a basket arch known as Arco Bayon, under which runs the street.

This building was declared the March 16th, 1995 as Property of Cultural Interest with the category of Cultural-Artistic Monument.
Today, it housed in a wing the cultural center and in another the police station.

City council of Luarca

It was built in 1912 by Manuel del Busto. In that year was carried out the construction of two important examples of architecture for public use: The Casino and the City council.

The City Hall has a different composition than the casino, linked to the Louis Sullivan, from U.S., idea to compose the building according to the division of classical order: based, shaft and capital. In the main facade the architect highlights the central part by a curved treatment to highlight the most representative areas.

The central window of the attic, consisting of a triple arches, reminiscent of the typical hissing Asturian Romanesque window and displays the will to include a native element in the set, in addition to demonstrating once again his love of eclecticism. The decoration alternate materials and includes classical mouldings, columns and pilasters. They attic windows are especially curious and were also used in the Círculo Liceo building, which reflect the influence of the Viennese Secession. The City Hall is an eclectic building as most of the works of the architect.

 Círculo Liceo

It was built in 1912 by Manuel del Busto. The Casino, named Círculo Liceo, was part of the social works, common in those years, carried out as recreational centres for meeting and leisure for men. The women could only enter to certain acts such as, for example, the dancing. The most interesting of the building is the composition and decoration of the facades, highlighting the original windows, in the main facade and in the river looking facade.

In this facade was attached a section with a covered terrace losing all their proportion, harmony and original physiognomy. The ornamentation with plates with floral reliefs, refers to the type of the decorative modern directory, but the peculiar shapes of the openings of the cover and its frame belongs to the repertoire secessionist (Viennese influence.)

 Santa Eulalia Church

The parish church of Santa Eulalia in Luarca, has a medieval origin. There are documented evidences of its existence dating from the first half of the twelfth century. Of the original building is not anything. It was be destroyed completely to construct the current church between 1873 and 1879. There a stands at his feet.

It has a  rectangular floor shape. Inside, it hosts three sections:  the central one is wider than the side ones- which are covered with vaults, like the apse. The cruise ends in a central section dome over scallops sobresle not on deck, but so does the flashlight.

Ten bays provide natural lighting (five on each side), and six of them have semicircular shape.

The backyard has a porch with semicircular arches resting on pillars of good thickness and lintel cover of the central part. There is also a bell tower which has square shape. The key of the central arch of the porch contained the following inscription: "SE/INAUGURO/EL AÑO/1879" (It was officially opened for the first time on 1879).

Temple houses five major altarpieces, with particular emphasis on the high altar of Santa Eulalia de Merida, located in the sanctuary and dated between 1770 and 1880. It is rococo and in the exhibitor stands, the coat of arms, angels and the Holy Ghost, the altarpiece is contemporary and the baroque images of Santa Eulalia de Mérida, figure attributed to the workshop of Antonio de Borja, achieving good and excellent movement, also the bishops and the Holy Crucifix are also Baroque.

The others retables are the Christ Crucified altar (1777), also rococo, in the third section of the epistle nave, San Antonio de Padua (from the second half of the eighteenth century), with Baroque style and situated in the third section of the nave of the Gospel, Virgen del Rosario (last quarter of XVIII), Rococo, which is located in the right transept, and the Virgen del Carmen (from the second half of XVIII), Baroque, on his left arm in which the image of Santo Domingo are  highlighting, San Roque and a crucified man, works made, perhaps, by a follower of Luis Fernandez de la Vega.

Author: Juan Antonio Martínez Losada