El Poble Nou de Benitatxell
The oratory of Sant Jaume Apòstol, also known as the oratory of Jaume Llobell, is located in the town of Poble Nou de Benitatxell.
Initially, the facilities, apart from the temple, included a hospital for the poor and a school, and they were inaugurated in 1914. After the Civil War, it fell into disrepair, and after a thorough restoration, it was reopened for worship in 1974.
The oratory consists of the chapel itself, a series of rooms distributed within a two-storey building and a courtyard that separates them. In this previous atrium, one finds a Via Crucis with ceramic stations, wooden benches on tile floors, and access to the oratory.
The temple is a rectangular building with whitewashed walls except for the exposed stone blocks at the corners. In the upper part of the triangular pediment, there is a central window and an oculus. The two-sloped roof is covered with tiles and, on the right side, there is a square bell tower that houses two bells, cast in 1913, and baptised with the names of Cor de Jesús and Maria de L'Assumpció.
Inside, one can see a predominance of neoclassical style. It is covered with a barrel vault with transverse arches and blind lunettes. There are lateral openings resembling shallow chapels with various religious imagery, some within stucco altarpieces. Behind the altar, at the head, there is a colourful two-tiered altarpiece in which, between columns, the main niche opens, displaying the image of Sant Jaume Apòstol dressed like a pilgrim.