Santiponce Itálica

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Shrine to Vera Cruz

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Originally, this shrine was part of the 16th-century San Sebastian Hospital. Only the pointed-arch doorway leading to the courtyard remains from the original 17th-century shrine. The building was renovated in 1896, but owing to its poor state of repair, it was torn down and rebuilt in 1903.

On 24 February 1969, the roof of the building caved in during mass. The shrine was rebuilt by Álvaro Gómez Terrero, and blessed by Jose Maria Cardinal Bueno Monreal in September of that year.

The Confraternity of the Vera Cruz, one of the town’s most beloved, has its canonical seat here. The titular images –Christ of the True Cross and Our Lady of Mercy- are kept here. Although the chapel was completely rebuilt, it still preserves a few remains of the 17th-century shrine.

The new chapel has a single-nave, rectangular floor plan and a simple bell gable on the façade. The main façade of the temple is flanked by two tile panels, one of which commemorates the collapse of the roof, and the other dedicated to Our Lady of Mercy.

The shrine houses images of significant artistic value from the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries, as well as the titular images of the Confraternity of the True Cross –Christ of the True Cross, Child Jesus, Saint Lucy, Saint Anthony and the Immaculate Conception-, and other valuable assets.
 

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