Jesus Church Talamanca  Cala Llonga Ibiza

To many visitors staying in Eivissa, Jesus is just another village on the road to the beaches of Talamanca or Cala Llonga is a pretty little place though spoiled by the main road running through it yet not really pretty enough to distinguish it from many another on the island. Until, that is, you reach the church.

The church is a magnificent building, beautifully arcaded on one side and with the typically austere Romanesque style frontage popular in 15thcentury Spain. The solidness of the construction owes much to its history, such village churches having been built by the villagers themselves rather than by craft builders, each man lending his own particular skills and style. The church also often served as a refuge during pirate attacks.

It is not, however, for the exterior that the church is famous. Inside is the island's greatest work of art, the retable, or altar screen. This triptych, a three panelled painting, is thought to have been completed early in the 16th century by the Valencian artist Rodrigo de Osona. The base of the retable shows the seven key events in the life of the Virgin from the Annunciation to the Assumption. Above is the Virgin and Child, a work of intimacy and gentleness, quite different in character from the more formal poses that are normally seen in paintings of the period. Above is St Francis of Assissi receiving the stigmata? Above again is Christ appearing to St Gregory. The side panels of the triptych show further scenes from the lives of the saints.

The church is normally locked, but the key can usually be obtained from the nearby bar/restaurant, Bon L10c Alternatively, the retable can be viewed before or after services.