DESCRIPTION

Religious temple located on the outskirts of Esparragosa de Lares, on a small esplanade along the road towards the mountains. It is a quadrangular-plan construction housing inside the image of the Cristo del Consuelo. Opposite the hermitage stands the former Jurisdictional Pillar of the Order of Alcántara.

HISTORY

The hermitage is historically linked to devotion to the Cristo del Consuelo and to the jurisdictional environment of the Order of Alcántara, represented by the pillar located in front of the building. This element constituted a symbol of jurisdiction and authority in the territories belonging to the military order.
It is one of the oldest monuments in the municipality, with medieval roots as a roadside shrine, transformed into a Baroque hermitage during the 17th and 18th centuries. It is an ancient roadside shrine located on the road to Puebla de Alcocer. Roadside shrines were small religious constructions erected at the entrances and exits of villages, along roads and crossroads, so that travellers could stop to pray and entrust themselves before beginning their journey. Its origin in Esparragosa is related to the intense traffic of people, shepherds and merchants crossing the area as it lay on the route of the royal livestock drove roads.

HISTORICAL AND ARTISTIC DESCRIPTION

The hermitage of the Cristo del Consuelo is a quadrangular-plan building with a bell gable, lintelled doorway and pilasters at the exterior corners. Its architecture corresponds to a simple religious construction. Inside, a gilded altarpiece housing the image of the Cristo del Consuelo is preserved.
Opposite the entrance door stands the former Jurisdictional Pillar of the Order of Alcántara, built in masonry, with steps around it and an iron cross installed in the 1940s.

RELEVANT FIGURES RELATED TO THE POI
The hermitage is linked to the Order of Alcántara, the historical-military institution that exercised jurisdiction over extensive territories of the region and whose former jurisdictional pillar is preserved in front of the temple.

MOVABLE HERITAGE

Gilded altarpiece located inside the temple and image of the Cristo del Consuelo. The beautiful image of Christ, replacing the original from the 13th century; a silver lamp from the late 19th century; and the admirable exterior Baroque bell gable, built in brick and decorated with Tuscan pilasters, flame finials and crowned by a curved pediment.

INTANGIBLE HERITAGE

The site maintains its connection with local devotion to the Cristo del Consuelo and with the historical memory of the presence of the Order of Alcántara in Esparragosa de Lares.