San José Church

A stunning Neo-Gothic style façade appears out of nowhere in the corner of al-Harti Street. It is now in ruins and covered by vegetation. This was the San José Church, built in 1901 and designed by the monk architect Francisco Sierra. In addition to the main church building and bell tower, there were rooms that were distributed over two floors including galleries, all of which surrounded an interior patio. This area was occupied by Franciscan monks, an Order that was present in Morocco from very early on, and that was responsible for paying the ransom for the Christians that were being held captive. They arrived in Larache in the 17th century.