Semana Santa Estepa

Seville enchants

In 1400, the Archbishop of Seville gifted the friars of the Third Order of Saint Francis the Parish Church of San Juan de Aznalfarache, which owned the Shrine to Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception at Real Street in Castilleja de la Cuesta. At that time, and until 1634, Castilleja de la Cuesta was governed by the neighbouring town of Tomares.

In 1513, the 4th Count of Ureña gifted the old San Sebastián Chapel and the adjoining charity hospital to the friars of the Order of Preachers so that they could found their convent. The Count had it recorded that the Chapel should not be demolished but rather incorporated into the new church. Its construction was completed on 7 March 1547.

The old Cilla del Cabildo Colegial, today the Parish House of the city, was built in 1773, according to the date engraved on the façade. Built by the architect Antonio Ruiz Florindo, it resembles more a palace than an industrial building, where the grain and fruits paid as a tithe to the church was stored.

This building was commissioned to the Sevillian master-builder Ambrosio de Figueroa in the 18th century by the San Juan Bautista Church. According to the books, it was used to store and restore the Church’s furnishings. It was also used as a granary. The building belonged to the parish, as evidence by the Cross of St John on the main gate.

The Santa María del Águila Church shares a common feature with other Sevillian Mudejar-style parish churches from the 13th and 14th centuries.

This single-nave church is covered with a remarkable Mudejar-style frame from 1596. It is accessed through the entrance located on the right wall. The angled bell gable on the entrance dates back to 1760. It has a baroque decoration with a moulded frieze, pendants, polychrome blue tiles on white walls and bricks, crowned by a curved split pediment around the top and a wrought-iron cross.

This 14th-century church is dedicated to Saint John the Baptist. It was built in the Mudejar style with a nave and two aisles, divided into four bays, plus a rectangular sanctuary. The decorative wooden ceiling is more recent as the original fell into disrepair at the beginning of this century.