Santa María de Gracia Church

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Gelves. Iglesia Santa María de Gracia, fachada

Gelves. Iglesia Santa María de Gracia, Virgen

The church is located in the uppermost part of the town, on the old street commonly known as El Porche. It has now been renamed as Don Juan de Dios Corrales Gálvez, who was the parish priest for fifty-three years. This beautiful baroque church from the 16th century was once a small chapel or private oratory of the Counts of Gelves.

The Santa Maria de Gracia Church has a baroque-neoclassical style due to the extensive renovation carried out in the 18th century. The single rectangular nave has a Latin cross plan and a transept covered with a dome on pendentives engraved with the ducal coats of arms. There are side chapels on the left and niches on the right. The nave is covered with half-barrel vaults, except for the transept.

The bust of Our Lady of Grace, patron saint of the town, presides over the altarpiece. The image is by an unknown author. However, experts have argued that it may be the work of disciples of Duque Cornejo, possibly from the seventeenth century.

It is worth noting the fresco paintings present inside the temple.

The white marble baptismal font dates from the early seventeenth century. Joselito “El Gallo”, a bullfighter born in Gelves in 1895, was baptised here.

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