Iglesia de la Asunción, Melgar de Fernamental

The church of the Assumption of Melgar de Fernamental is a temple of great proportions, built in a conjunction of two different models, namely: begun in the 14th century according to a Latin cross plan model, in imitation of the plan of the cathedral of Burgos, continued and completed in the 15th century, and later largely rebuilt in the mid-16th century due to its ruinous state, changing the Latin cross plan model to the hall plan model, resulting in a very large interior space.

The great reforms made in the middle of the 16th century were begun by the master mason Juan de Escarza, an architect who probably came from La Rioja or the Basque Country; once this mason died, the chapter made a new contract in 1587 with Pedro de Escarza, son of the previous master mason and with Pedro de la Torre Bueras, a mason from Trasmiera. Both masters continued the works until well into the 17th century.

With an austere and elegant main altarpiece, it can be inscribed within a late Romanesque style with a predominance of the great architecture and with some Baroque additions, built in the mid-seventeenth century by the altarpiece maker and assembler Gabriel González de la Torre and sculptors Juan de los Helgueros and Juan de Pobes, being completed in 1677; Alonso Álvarez Ruyales was in charge of its gilding at the end of the same century.

The tower, of great size, was built in the middle of the 18th century by Juan de Sagarvinaga in a neoclassical style that takes models from Juan de Herrera. Several side altars. Baroque walnut choir and an excellent organ from the end of the 19th century, installed in the case of the old Baroque organ built by Betolaza in the 18th century.