With the layout and urbanisation of the new Melilla outside the walled enclosure, new temples were built to meet the religious needs of the population.
One of them is the military church built in the Mantelete neighbourhood in the first third of the 20th century, the works of which were directed by the military engineer Francisco Carcaño Más.
In various publications we find written references to this temple. We will start with the most recent, by Antonio Bravo Nieto, the city's official chronicler:
“The Military Church is a building of modest proportions with a three-nave structure; the facade is divided into three sections, with a wider central section featuring the main entrance in a pointed arch with a latticed rose window in its intrados and a pedimented finish. The decoration is set within blind ashlar stonework, a frieze of small columns, rose windows, paired arches, etc.
The lateral bodies are twin prismatic towers of three storeys, where the belfry opens between pointed arches, topped with spires backed by glazed tiles forming imbrications. Gothic forms were repeated in the geminated windows of the side facade and in the arches and vaults of the interior.
The design of this church (1920) is by the engineer Francisco Carcaño Más.
Enrique Moya Casals, in his work Melilla Piadosa y Tradicional, provides a detailed description of this simple yet beautiful work by architect Francisco Carcaño Más, not without first briefly explaining the beginnings of military jurisdiction in our city and in other parts of North Africa:
“Regarding the military jurisdiction of Melilla, a Papal Brief dated 5 February 1576, empowers the Bishop of Málaga to appoint priests and vicars, not only in Melilla but also for Goleta in Algiers, Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera, and other places that might be captured.
During the reigns of Kings Philip IV and Charles II, the Capuchin Fathers were appointed by the Prelate of the Diocese, and they took possession on 15 February 1661 of the posts of Vicar and Commissary of the Holy Crusade, Father Basilio del Antequera, and as assistants, Fathers Félix de Génova and Fulgencio de Estepa.
Further provisions later designate new positions for priests to carry out the pastoral care in this Spanish possession, including a Royal Order of 3 June 1887, for both Melilla and Alhucemas, Peñón, and Chafarinas, also determining, by order of His Majesty, that the Lenten preacher for the latter post be paid the same gratuity as that earned by the other African possessions.
The church services in Melilla are held in the primitive and historic Church of the Purísima Concepción and Sanctuary of Our Lady of Victory, enthusiastically acclaimed by the garrison itself, with its Governor at the forefront, Field Marshal Don Antonio de Villalba y Angulo.
As the city grew, following the campaign of 1909, the need for the military element to have a church in the new part of Melilla became apparent day by day, leading to the provisional construction of a chapel next to Wall X, to serve as the Military Parish for this important garrison.
Construction of the current Military Church, located at its site on Duque de Almodóvar street, began during the time of General Fernández Silvestre.
The walls had not yet been completely covered when the war of 1921 broke out; the building, in its functional part, served as warehouses for the Artillery Park, until, without finishing the campaign, the works on the temple continued. These were completed in 1925, with His Excellency Mr. José Sanjurjo y Sacanell serving as Captain-General of Melilla at the time, including the blessing of the new church, a solemn procession from the provisional chapel of the Blessed Sacrament, and other liturgical functions prescribed by the Roman rite.
It is the Military Church of Melilla, a beautiful temple with a basilica plan, albeit of reduced proportions, whose exterior appearance and profile with its two towers of eight oculi windows and its architectural spires, gargoyles and pinnacles, beautify this part of the city.
A fine example of the style indicated: its pointed arch facade, with its west front and pierced rose window, with another larger one traced on the gable of the facade amidst whimsical ornamental drawings in relief mouldings, completing the cross with a cresting that runs along the upper part and continues down the centre of the roof and side walls of the building.
The interior of the church has three naves, the central one being of greater depth and height, with the two side ones being of lesser height and depth, featuring three arches on each side, supported by four bundles of small columns in a Gothic style, like the vaults.
At the back of the crossing apse, there is a gilded altar that harmonises with the unique ensemble of the temple; the three canopies of exquisite carving stand out, accompanied by mouldings and other complementary adornments.
On the table of the high altar, the Tabernacle is revered and there is an artistic monstrance at the top of the steps, to expose H.S.M.
On the main site of the altarpiece and against a blue background, a most beautiful image of the Immaculate Conception is venerated, titular of the Church and Patroness of the Infantry Corps, Staff Corps, Veterinary Intervention, and Military Offices, who, as is known, hold her as their Exalted Mother and Celestial Protectress.
This holy image, like almost all the other effigies worshipped here, was a donation from the military personnel of the fortress. To the sides of the Immaculate Conception are the sacred images of the Divine Heart of Jesus and of Patriarch Saint Joseph.
Two side doors, one of them decorated, lead the first to the sacristy and other interior dependencies of the Church. A balustrade of the same style closes off the chancel, to which one ascends by a step, which can be observed. Today it has been replaced by an iron communion rail.
Passing to the nave of the Gospel, one finds the altarpiece dedicated to the Apostle Saint James, Patron Saint of Spain and the Cavalry Corps.
On this side of the temple wall, there is a crimson velvet canopy, with a royal crown, where the Most Holy Christ of Agony is venerated, a reproduction slightly smaller than the miraculous Christ of Limpias, between two artfully designed lanterns.
Follow the altar of Saint Teresa, Patron Saint of the Military Supply Corps, with two angels at her sides.
The Most Holy Virgin of Mount Carmel, Exalted Patroness of the Navy and also of the Melilla Maritime Company, is located below, under a beautiful canopy with gold adornments and a walnut background, like the previous altarpieces.
Next to this altar, resting on a pedestal, is a beautiful Infant Jesus of Prague, and on the other side, a metal plaque of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour, the blessed Patroness of the Army Medical Corps.
Below is the door to go up to the choir and towers of the church.
Follow the main door, with a wooden screen and above it is the tribune which serves as a choir for musicians and singers. Passing to the end of the Epistle, one finds the baptismal font, with a painting of the Precursor, one of the Divine Shepherdess, and another of Saint John Chrysostom.”
The historian Juana Alias Rodríguez published an article on the military church in Aldaba in 1987:
“...It is a beautiful example of a religious building located in a central area of the city on Duque de Almodóvar street, close to Plaza de España.
From its construction to the present day, a significant modification has been made to its interior decoration, adapting it to more modern aesthetic criteria, as has also happened in the rest of the city's temples. Particularly in this aspect, the loss of the original stained-glass windows, which depicted the images venerated in the temple and corresponded to the patrons of the different branches and corps of the army, stands out.
The exterior of the temple has been entirely preserved and is currently in very good condition. However, the original intended perspective for the building was compromised by the construction of some military housing built alongside the left side of the church.
A brief history of its construction
Given its special status as a church intended to meet the worship needs of the military population, the circumstances surrounding its construction were also special.
After the 1909 Campaign, the city's population began to increase considerably, and just as new civil buildings were constructed, a military chapel was also built next to Wall X, which was of a purely provisional nature.
The construction of the current military chapel began during the time of General Fernández Silvestre. It is presumed that the project's author was a military engineer, although no data regarding their identity exists. It is known, however, that the construction engineer was D. Francisco Carcaño.
Likewise, the works carried out in 1932, during which the sacristy and the parish priest's residence were extended, are documented, with the military engineer Salvador Lechuga being the director of the works on this occasion.
When the war broke out in 1921, the usable part of the unfinished construction was used as an artillery park warehouse. Once the campaign was over, work resumed, finishing in 1925. “El Telegrama de Melilla” recorded the solemn procession that took place to celebrate the blessing of the new temple, with José Sanjurjo y Sacanell as Commander-in-Chief…
Description of the architectural elements that make up the temple
The building complex can be classified within the Neogothic style due to a series of features which we will describe below, although due to its eclectic nature, varied elements corresponding to other styles are found within it.
The basilica plan of the temple (Rosario Camacho Martínez, El eclecticismo en la arquitectura religiosa de Melilla) - although its proportions are very small - has the side aisles separated from the central one by two pairs of columns, with attached bundles of small columns from which the ribbing of the ogival vaults covering the aisles springs. These columns support pointed arches that separate the central aisle from the side ones. The central aisle is topped by a semicircular chapel, in turn covered by a vault whose ribs emerge from a central boss.
As the central nave is taller than the side ones, four oculi have been placed on each side to provide light to the interior. Likewise, the clerestory achieved in the right-hand lateral wall, thanks to four pointed arch windows, divided by a mullioned window, confers great luminosity to the temple. In each of the tympana formed by these, a quatrefoil tracery rose window is situated.
The main facade has movement in plan, with the portico protruding beyond the enclosure wall, while the sides of the facade recede before advancing again with the bodies of the towers situated on either side.
This floor plan movement lends a Baroque air to the whole façade, dominated by Gothic elements as we shall see below.
The central, pointed arch is decorated in the tympanum with a pierced rose window, featuring the same decorative motif as those on the side windows. The portal is topped by a pentagonal gable, separated from the preceding section by a stringcourse decorated with blind trefoil arches: the central part is decorated with a rose window adorned with mouldings in the shape of circles of unequal size, which intersect. It is finished with a pierced cresting.
The two areas adjacent to the entrance, set back slightly in plan, are decorated with two blind pointed arches, purely decorative in function; similar to those found forming the clerestory of the right-hand side wall. Above these arches and at the height of the upper part of the side aisles, the same impost continues, which decorates the upper part of the gable.
Finally, two twin towers have been placed on either side of the façade, located on the same plane as the entrance, meaning they are set forward in relation to the enclosing wall.
It consists of two bodies, separated by a projecting cornice, both cubical in shape. The first of these features a decoration on the upper part, of false openings with double pointed trefoil arches.
The upper body contains two windows on each of its four sides, with pointed arches, decorated with raised mouldings, the upper part of each side being finished with a mitre profile crowned with openwork cresting. Four pinnacles complete the four corners, with gargoyles at their bases.
Both towers are capped with pyramidal spires, decorated with hooks on each of the four edges.
The right side wall, decorated with the four previously described windows, contains four attached pilasters in the spaces between them. The upper part of the wall is decorated with a frieze of concatenated rhombuses, above which is placed a pierced cresting of a similar style to that decorating the upper part of the gable and the mitre arches of the towers, although in these, decorative balls are placed at their upper angles. A similar cresting decorates the upper part of the central nave.
The area belonging to the apse, as well as the left wall, are hidden by buildings that were subsequently added after the original construction.
Conclusion
The architectural model to which this church belongs can be classified within architecture termed “archaising”, which copies elements of Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance, and even reaches an eclecticism that creates a hybrid style.
In the case of our military church, Gothic elements predominate: ogival arches, rose windows, pierced cresting, etc.
This Neo-Gothic style, used in the early 20th century, is rather late, as its origins date back to the latter half of the 19th century. It was used in Europe, particularly in England where it had never been entirely abolished, and in the United States.
Contrast this construction with the modernist style that became dominant in the city during the first third of the century, which aimed to establish itself as an original art unrelated to the past and which made extensive use of curved, counter-curved, elongated, and undulating forms.
However, there are numerous buildings similar to this military church, based on Neo-Gothic models, but without the pretentious dimensions and profusion of elements of the early period. The common features are the façade divided into three sections, with two pyramidal towers on either side and a central triangular pediment.
