Sant Vicenç de Tossa, Baroque church in Tossa de Mar, Spain.
Sant Vicenç de Tossa is a large Baroque parish church in the Vila Nova, with a nave flanked by five lower chapels per side and a barrel vault with lunettes over seven bays. Its facade of Montjuïc stone holds a rose window, a niche figure of Saint Vincent and a wooden portal; the square bell tower attached to the right is low because weak water-bearing ground limited its size.
The church was built in the 18th century to replace a smaller religious building that stood within the fortified Vila Vella complex. This construction marked the growth of the town as a center of worship beyond the fortress walls.
The church is dedicated to Saint Vincent the Martyr, and its name lives on in the street of Sant Vicenç, today called Rosa Rissech. Inside, the side chapel holds the 18th-century Retaule del Roser, rebuilt after the Civil War, whose central Virgin is an Immaculada replacing the original Roser figure. A medieval holy water stoup from the old Vila Vella church stands in the presbytery.
The church stands in the Vila Nova, in the block it once shared with the former town hall and county council offices. The nave faces west, with the square bell tower attached to the right side of the facade. The building was restored in 1939-46, 1966-70 and 1995-2004, so expect a mix of periods inside.
The bell tower is lower than its square base would suggest: weak water-bearing ground layers forced the builders to reduce its dimensions. A stone engraved with 1777 sits at the top of the frontispiece, marking the year the works ended, months after the church was consecrated in 1776.
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