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Convent and church of San José in Caravaca open to visitors every day in 2024
Guided tours of the convent are available on the 15th of every month
In order to cater for the huge influx of visitors during the Holy Jubilee Year of 2024 in Caravaca de la Cruz the tourism department of the Town Hall has announced that the convent-church of San José is to open to the public on a daily basis and monthly tours are to be held of the former Carmelite convent.
The convent is also the venue of several exhibitions during the Jubilee year, while the first phase of restoration work has recently been concluded at the church in the Convento de San José.
Councillor José Santiago Villa explains that at the church Town Hall staff will be in attendance every day in order to make visiting possible during the same timetable as the municipal museums, and that among the exhibitions plans the most recent to open is “Andar para pintarlo”, a collection of works by Murcia water painter Zacarías Cerezo on the theme of the pilgrimage to Caravaca de la Cruz.
During 2024 the church of San José is open as follows: weekdays 10.00 to 14.00 and 16.30 to 19.30, Saturdays 10.30 to 14.00 and 16.30 to 19.30, Sundays 10.30 to 14.00.
The monthly guided tours are scheduled for the 15th of every month at 12.00 midday with registration cost of 5 euros per person. Bookings can be made at any of the municipal museums or be email to reservas@caravacadelacruz.es.
Further information about Caravaca is available from the tourist office (Plaza de España, 7, telephone 968 702424, email turismo@caravacadelacruz.es).
For more local information, including the Holy Jubilee Year as well as local news and what’s on, go to the home page of Caravaca Today.
Address
Calle De Las Monjas, 19, 30400 CARAVACA DE LA CRUZTel: 968 702424 / 968 701003
Oficina de Turismo de Caravaca de la Cruz
More information about the places of interest which can be visited in the municipality of Caravaca de la Cruz, along with what's on and local news can be found in the Caravaca Today.
Caravaca de la Cruz, in the north-west of the Region of Murcia, is one of only 5 Holy Cities in the Roman Catholic world, a centre of pilgrimage, along with Rome, Jerusalem, Santiago de Compostela and Santo Toribio de Liebana, and is home to the Cross of Caravaca, the Vera Cruz.
The status of Holy City was bestowed by Pope John Paul II in 1998, granting the City a Permanent Jubilee year every 7 years for perpetuity, the first one held in 2003 and the next in 2024.
The strategic and natural advantages of Caravaca de la Cruz have attracted the attention of settlers for more than 800,000 years, the Cueva Negra yielding remains of Homo Heidelbergensis, forbears of the Neanderthals and the municipality also houses important archaeological remains from the Argaric, Iberian and Roman cultures. many of these can be seen in the Municipal Archaeological Museum.
As a border town caught between the Catholic forces of Castille and the last remaining Moorish stronghold in Spain, Granada, Caravaca had a turbulent medieval history, but it was during this period that the legend of the Cross of Caravaca was born, bringing the religious orders which shaped the structure of Caravaca today, with its impressive hilltop castle and eclectic collection of churches and monasteries, religious tourism today being a backbone of the town´s economy.
Caravaca de la Cruz is a municipality with important natural resources, including extensive forests, part of which have protected status due to their wealth of flora and fauna, and due to the abundant water supplies is also a major area for canned fruit production, apricots in particular being an important crop.
Caravaca is renown for its important May Fiestas, held in honour of the Vera Cruz, which also incorporate the Moors and Christians celebrations and the Running of the Wine Horses.
Caravaca de la Cruz is also the home of Europe´s largest collection of ethnic instruments at Barranda, the Museo de Música Étnica Barranda and is the location of the Barranda festival de Cuadrillas, which celebrates the Region's ethnic music traditions.
The municipality is home to around 26,000 inhabitants and sahres boundaries with Moratalla, Cehegín, Lorca, Puebla de Don Fadrique in the province of Granada and Vélez-Blanco in the province of Almería.
Opening times:
Weekdays: 10.00 to 14.00 and 16.30 to 19.30
Saturdays: 10.30 to 14.00 and 16.30 to 19.30
Sundays and public holidays: 10.30 to 14.00
Click for map, Caravaca de la Cruz Tourist Office
