Santiponce Itálica

Heritage

An immense legacy waiting to be discovered

San Juan de Dios Hospital Chapel

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In the pedestrian high street of the town, Mesones Street, stands this Chapel of the old Charity Hospital, now a nursing home run by the Mercedarian Sisters. 

The 18th century façade has a simple doorway with two pilasters, with entablature and a broken pediment, which contains a niche with the image of the saint. The interior, also from the 18th century, has a single nave with barrel vaults and lunettes and a ribbed vault in the chancel. It is a simple example of the Sevillian Baroque of the time. 

This church, owned by the town council, was yielded to the Hermandad de la Amargura in 2011, being its canonical headquarters since then. 

After the transfer from the parish church of the images belonging to this brotherhood, the Holy Christ of Humility and Patience from the late 16th century, attributed to the workshop of Pedro Roldán, and specifically to Luisa Roldán "La Roldana", stands out among the imagery of the church. This carving of a naked Christ, covered only by a carved shroud, sitting on a rock with his head resting on his right hand, was the only image that escaped the fire and destruction caused by the Civil War in the town, thanks to a local who hid it in a jar of oil. That is why it is popularly known as the "Christ of Oil".

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