Iglesia de San Vicente Mártir

The Church of San Vicente Mártir is the main religious temple of Frías, in Burgos, and rises next to the rocky cliff that dominates the town, visually integrated in the medieval historical complex of the old town. It is a parish church, although in some tourist resources it also appears as a hermitage due to its scale and unique location. Its origin is Romanesque, with remains of the original construction preserved after later alterations. The tourist and patrimonial documentation places its first construction in medieval times, and points out that after the collapse of the tower in 1904 a new one was erected. The original main doorway was transferred to the Cloisters Museum in New York, a fact that underlines the artistic relevance that the building came to have. In its interior are preserved outstanding patrimonial elements, such as altarpieces, altars, sepulchers, paintings and religious imagery. Among the aspects most cited by the sources are the chapel of the Visitation and the set of devotional pieces that reinforce its historical and artistic value within the heritage of Frías. The church is part of the monumental landscape of Frías, a fortified medieval town declared a Historic-Artistic Site in 1973. Its exact location, in the eastern sector of the rocky hill of the town, explains its role within the historic urban core and its interest as a heritage tourist resource.