Church of Santo Domingo de Guzmán

The Church of Santo Domingo de Guzmán was built following two architectural styles: the primitive ogival style, which has been greatly remodelled since, and Baroque, which took over the entire church. The date of its construction is unknown, but, if we accept the theory of Brother Pedro Mariscal de San Antonio, we can assume that it was built at the end of the 15th century or beginning of the 16th century. What we do know for sure is that in 1559, Hernán Ruiz (master builder of Seville Cathedral) signed a contract to remove "the four old pillars and the stone from the arches, with pebbles, lime and sand". The current four columns of the temple are not the ones that Hernán Ruiz pledged to do, though, because major construction work was carried out in the 17th century. The fact that the pillars existed before Hernán Ruiz signed the contract, and the testamentary dispositions of some of the people buried in the Church of Santo Domingo, dating from before the signing of the contract, is what leads us to believe that this building was erected between the 15th and 16th centuries. It is located in Bornos, in the province of Cadiz.

It has a rectangular floor plan with a transept and three naves. The façade is very simple, divided in two sections by a pediment. The lower section is sober and only the doorway breaks this simple monotony. The upper section is triangular, neoclassical, adorned with four attached columns, on which a small triangular pediment rests, with a tympanum featuring a tile with the saint after whom the church is named: Santo Domingo de Guzmán. Attached to the façade we find the bell tower, which is 31 metres high and was built in 1792.

The most valuable item in this church, archaeologically speaking, is the stone or altar that we find on the façade, embedded to the right of the main door. We can read an inscription that mentions the relics in this church: those of holy martyrs Santo Tomé, San Dionisio, San Cosme and San Daniel, Santa Afra, San Sebastián and San Sabas.