Parish church of the Assumption of Our Lady

The parish church of Ráfales is a building of great historical and architectural value, forming part of the group of 14th-century churches built across the comarca. It displays a Mediterranean Gothic style and consists of a single nave. Its construction developed in several stages from the 14th to the 17th century.

The present church is the second to be built in Ráfales in little more than a century. In the early 13th century, a small Romanesque church was erected on the same site. Work on the Gothic church we know today began in the second quarter of the 14th century, with the construction of the pentagonal apse and the first bay of the nave. However, this work was halted due to a devastating plague in 1348.

In the 16th century the second bay of the nave was completed, and in the 17th century the building was extended with the west bay, the present doorway (while retaining the original Gothic style), and the bell gable was added. The church is a solid and austere construction built in ashlar masonry, with a ribbed vault.

Inside, there is a keystone carved with the cross of the Order of Calatrava, which once dominated the town. On the exterior, the windows with Gothic tracery stand out, along with some carved modillions. Next to the epistle side there is an attached tower. On this same side, on the exterior, the old cemetery was located.

The church suffered damage during the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939), during which the altarpieces and images were destroyed. However, a 16th-century panel depicting the Adoration of the Magi was preserved. During that period the building was used as a warehouse by the anarcho-syndicalist collective, and the doorway was enlarged to allow lorries to enter. The church has been restored and retains its rich history and architecture to this day.