Església de Sant Nicolau del Grau de Gandia, 20th century religious building in El Grau district, Gandia, Spain.
The Església de Sant Nicolau del Grau de Gandia is a 20th century church with a trapezoidal structure featuring two lateral shells that direct natural light through elevated walls into the main nave. The building combines red brick, concrete, and stone with mosaic-covered surfaces and wrought iron accents.
The parish commissioned the project in 1959 from architect Gonzalo Echegaray Comba and engineer Eduardo Torroja Miret, and construction began in 1962. It replaced the earlier church at El Grau destroyed in the Spanish Civil War, serving the district's growing population. Torroja, a leading figure in Spanish structural concrete, shaped the shell design.
The church is dedicated to Saint Nicholas of Bari, patron saint of sailors, a fitting choice for a temple built on a triangular spit with two sides facing the water. The chapel of the Paso, on the south podium, has a wooden door covering its whole front and a porthole window, giving it a maritime look.
The church stands on a triangular spit with two sides facing the water, so it is reached by the single road that borders the landward side, next to the Casa Abacial. The entrance porch at the foot of the nave splits into the church and the cloister. The north wall is raised off the ground, opening a horizontal slot to the cloister that adds capacity in summer.
The north wall of the nave stands clear of the ground, leaving a horizontal slit that links the church directly to the cloister and adds seating capacity in summer. The cloister itself has five irregular sides rather than the usual four, adapting to the triangular seafront plot.
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