The Parish Church of Navajas, located in the town centre, is listed as a Site of Local Relevance by the Directorate-General for Artistic Heritage of the Valencian Regional Government and belongs to the Diocese of Segorbe-Castellón. Interestingly, although both the Episcopal Conference and the Diocese of Segorbe-Castellón refer to this parish church as the ‘Immaculate Conception’, the list of properties held by the Directorate-General for Artistic Heritage of the Valencian Regional Government refers to it as the ‘Virgin of Light’.

Externally, the church is built of masonry, cornerstone and lime plaster. The façade at the foot dates from the late 19^th century, with cement plaster and a revivalist altarpiece-style doorway framed by pilasters and an upper section with a niche for the Virgin Mary. The tower is located on the Gospel side and consists of two sections topped by two sections and a small dome. The Chapel of the Virgin or Tabernacle has an exterior door, a single-section belfry and a blue ceramic tile dome above the transept.

Inside, the temple has a Latin cross plan with a 30-metre-long central nave, two side naves and a transept measuring 15.60 metres in length. The dome rises at the intersection of the two and is 25 metres high from the floor to the top. The church was built in the 18^th century and most of the interior decoration dates from the end of the last century, consisting of attached pilasters and composite capitals, joined by garlands and an architraved body with mouldings and gilded borders. The choir is located high up at the foot of the church, with a linteled front and a central oculus, while the Chapel of the Virgin is located on the Gospel side. The Camarín de la Virgen (Chapel of the Virgin) dates from the 19^th century and is decorated with fluted Corinthian columns attached to the wall, while the frieze and entablature feature garlands and cherubs, also in gold.

Chronologically speaking, the church dates back to the 16^th century, more specifically around 1534, when the early Christian temple was built, which was later expanded in successive stages:

Between 1606 and 1636, work was carried out on the roofs and walls, giving the building greater solidity and moving the cemetery inside the church. The second noteworthy intervention took place between 1670 and 1679, when the main altar was renovated and the cemetery was moved back outside the church. The third phase, in 1794, saw a major expansion with the construction of half of the new church and the bell tower. This is the neoclassical building we see today, designed by architects Mariano Llisterri, Francisco Marzo and Manuel Martínez, who also worked on Segorbe Cathedral. Finally, the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament and the Camarín a la Virgen were built in the church in 1881 and 1894 respectively.

It should be noted that it was during the works carried out in 1670 that a painted panel depicting the Vera Effigie de María (True Image of Mary) was discovered. Its authorship is attributed to the workshop of Juanes Macip, placing it chronologically around 1530. From this moment on, a process of consolidation of the cult of the current patron saint of Navajas, the Virgen de la Luz (Virgin of Light).

Navajas Papers: Light

In 2011, Navajas Town Council published issue No. 3 of Papeles de Navajas, which was dedicated to the study of Navajas Parish Church and the Virgin of Light. This 142-page book, with texts by David Montolío Torán (coord.), art historian, and Pilar Vañó Arándiga, archaeologist, analyses both the history of the temple and its evolution and provides a historical and iconographic study of the figure of the Virgin of Light from the moment of its discovery to the present day.

This document can be consulted below: