Arturo Gazul Municipal Library · Llerena (EN)

The Municipal Library of Llerena is located in what was once the church of San Juan de Dios. This hospital order, next to the church was located the hospital, which has its origin in the city of Granada, sent to the municipal council of Llerena his desire to settle in this city in 1671 to assist the poor of the city and since then, and until the s. XVIII, became the most important hospital in the region. The hospital, the building whose façade is made of stone masonry and which today houses the Residence and Sheltered Flats Center, dates from the last third of the 17th century. The entrance opening is framed with flat moldings and a smooth upper entablature with pyramid and ball ornaments; on both sides there are fluted columns with different capitals; in the upper body there is a beautiful window framed by pilasters and topped with a cornice. In the interior there is a porticoed patio with four galleries of three semicircular arches on slender marble columns with capitals of castanets. The church was built for the hospital in the middle of the 18th century. In its facade, of baroque eighteenth century style, three levels are distinguished, a first level of brick where the entrance doorway and the emblematic pomegranate of the Order of San Juan de Dios are located; to both sides two niches with brick pilasters; in the second level there are two superimposed openings and the last level is constituted with a pair of towers elevated in each one of the ends. The interior is configured with a single nave, decorated with a large baroque frieze, with niche chapels between pilasters; the cover is resolved with a barrel vault with lunettes and in the transept a large dome with dome and lantern. Currently this building, also of municipal property, is the one that houses the Public Library "Arturo Gazul". The size of the wooden bookshelves, located simulating ancient altarpieces, is remarkable. At the end of 2007 is when work began on the adaptation of this church for cultural uses through a collaboration agreement between the Ministry of Development and the City Council of Llerena. Since 2010 the Municipal Library, which in the 70's adopted the name of "Arturo Gazul", will occupy this site, however Llerena has had a Municipal Library since 1928 and was founded as a patronage between the Ateneo Llerenense and the City Council. Currently this library is listed as one of the most unique in Spain.