"It must have been built with three naves and a tower at the foot shortly after the city was conquered by Alfonso VIII . In the mid- 15th century , when the fights took place between Diego Hurtado de Mendoza , Marquis of Cañete, and Bishop Lope de Barrientos , the church of San Pedro played an important role, as the latter's supporters became strong there.
In the 16th century , the medieval factory hardly suffered any alterations. There is only documentary evidence that the bricklayer Alonso de Torres contracted the plastering work of a chapel, according to the plan that had been given to him. Perhaps this chapel can be identified with that of San Marcos, whose construction was sponsored by Miguel Enríquez , who was chaplain of the Cuenca cathedral. The chapel, which, according to the frieze, was completed in 1604, is covered with a magnificent octagonal coffered ceiling of the Mudejar tradition. Later, this chapel became the property of the counts of Toreno.
In the 17th century , the church tower was in such poor condition that it threatened ruin. At the end of 1660, it was decided to proceed with its reconstruction as soon as possible, in order to stop this process of deterioration and prevent its sinking.
The stonemason masters Pedro Salinas , Andrés Martínez and Simón Martínez were then commissioned to make some drawings of the tower; traces that were reviewed by don Juan del Pontón . This architect, who was the senior master of the works of the Bishopric, leaned towards the project presented by Pedro Salinas; although he did not stop highlighting the quality of the designs made by the other masters. Likewise, Pontón drew up some conditions, in which he dealt with the materials, measurements, etc., of the tower, and placed special emphasis on the fact that the spire should be covered with tile, which was better than slate, and that There was no way it was made with tin, as it would break down and have a short life.
When this report became known, the work was put up for auction; and on February 8, 1661 it was awarded to the stonemason Gregorio Pastor for the amount of 3,300 reales.
In the 18th century , during the episcopate of Don José Flórez Osorio , the church, like many others in the diocese of Cuenca, was completely renovated; and the person in charge of this renovation, once again, was the architect José Martín de Aldehuela.
The remodeling of the old church, of which the coffered ceiling of the chapel of the Counts of Toreno remains, which is a work from the end of the 16th century , as well as the bell tower, is a clear example of the appropriate solutions that, in the plots city ??irregulars, Don José Martín de Aldehuela knew how to give.
In this case, the plan is an octagon in which a circumference is inscribed, to whose perimeter pilasters are attached, between which semicircular arches are turned, which configure a less busy space than is usual in the artist's work. . The covering of the chapel shows the octagonal design of the floor plan. However, in this centralized space, the apse, which is also polygonal, marks a clear axis; At the end of which the façade is located, consisting of the doorway and the tower, which is displaced from the center of the gable. Above the door there is a small choir.
This circular space, which is crossed by a widely highlighted denticulated cornice, is closed with a dome on a drum, whose windows, in a mixtilinear shape, are very much in accordance with the aesthetics of Don José Martín. The rockery, which adorns capitals and openings, is also an ornamental motif frequently used by this architect. Likewise, the façade is very illustrative of the art of Don José Martín, with the semicircular arch of a truncated cone between boxed pilasters and venerated niches on both sides; The same can be said of the superposition of the cornice, which curves slightly, and of the curious incised decoration that joins the lower body with the niche of the upper body framed by Ionic pilasters.
The tower, which is made up of three descending sections, was finished at the end of the 18th century with a section of bells.
The church, after the Spanish Civil War , was restored from the great damage it suffered during its course."
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