Parroquia de Santa Eulalia de Mérida

The church is located at number 1 on Calle de la Iglesia –also facing the Church square– in the Guatemalan town of Peñalver. It was built during the first half of the 16th century. It presents a basilica plan with three naves, oriented from east to west, with a flat head, in line with the head of the side chapels. It has two entrances, both in the center of the nave, one on the north side, from the 17th century and with a clear Baroque influence, and the main one on the south side, in a Plateresque style.1 Tower view As added elements are the tower, in the Baroque style and built between the 17th and 18th centuries. It has a square plan and stands on the last section of the nave occupying its north-facing side, and the later and difficult to date sacristy, rectangular in shape and attached to the right arm of the transept. 1 The choir, located on high , is located at the foot of the temple. The central nave is taller and wider than the lateral ones. All of them are divided into four sections by pointed arches. The lateral arches, which separate the naves, are semi-circular, corresponding to the widest sections of the transept.1 The sections of the pillars that support arches and vaults are all different from each other due to the arrangement of ribs and ramrods. The capitals are continuous and are decorated with different plant themes. The roofs are also diverse: the main chapel is covered with a starred warhead vault; the shallow side chapels are covered with a simple ribbed vault on the side of the gospel and starred on that of the epistle. The three mentioned chapels are elevated with respect to the rest of the construction. The original deck of the chancel sank. In 1934 it was covered with a plaster vault. The remaining covers are ribbed vault with simple or compound terraces. The interior pavement is terrazzo, placed in the second half of the 20th century to replace the old clay tile.1 Main cover The lighting of the transept is made by two semicircular arched windows, a third is in the second section of the epistle's nave and above the choir is an oculus protected with iron bars. The entire interior is plastered and painted in gray except for the ashlar masonry at the bottom of the pillars. Outside, the material used is the masonry on the covers, buttresses and cornices, masonry in the rest of the construction and brick and ashlar in the tower. The temple roof is gabled in the main nave, following the slope of it in the side naves. The one in the tower is hipped. Outside, the entire perimeter of the temple is reinforced with prismatic buttresses on the supports of the vaults. The main portal is made up of a semicircular arch framed by profusely carved pilasters, which support an entablature formed by a frieze and a semicircular pediment; inside the latter there is a large niche with the round-shaped image of a Virgin Mary and a Child Jesus with reliefs of angels on both sides. All the decoration is characteristic of Plateresque. The set finishes off in its central part a cross and two medallions representing Saint Peter and Saint Paul. To the left of the church, a garage was built for the priest (which would be attached to his home on the left), a solution that distorts the contemplation of this cover. The opposite cover presents great simplicity of lines. It has a molded semicircular arch, framed by pilasters that support an entablature composed of a frieze with metopes and triglyphs and a triangular pediment that shelters an empty niche; it is protected by a tejaroz that rests on two prismatic buttresses located on both sides of the cover. The movable heritage of the church is abundant and of quality.1