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Ayuntamiento de Constantina

Iglesia Parroquial de Santa María of the Encarnación

Descripción

Located in the historic centre of Constantina (Plaza de Llano del Sol), its imposing and beautiful tower of six sections and fifty metres in height presides over the town and is one of its most emblematic monuments, visible from many different points.

The church has three naves, with a hall-shaped floor plan, in the tradition of Sevillian Mudejar architecture. It has ribbed vaults in the chancel and in the foot sections. The rest of the naves are covered by groined vaults over pointed arches. New chapels were added around the presbytery, which stands out for its volume, with brick buttresses in the corners of the main chapel, after its initial construction in the second half of the 15th century.

During the Civil War (August 1936), clashes took place inside the church. Sadly, the altarpiece of the main altar, the work of Juan de Oviedo, was completely lost. Subsequently, the church was completely restored with new altarpieces and images for worship. The epistle façade was renovated between 1979 and 1980.

The most outstanding feature of this building is the tower-façade, which starts from the “Puerta del Perdón” (Forgiveness Door), made up of an interesting Renaissance doorway, with two sections carved in stone, next to the baptistery window decorated in the same style. The upper window is flanked by the image of the patron saint and the Archangel Gabriel.

The tower, located at the foot of the central nave, rises on two initial brick bodies and is topped by three bell towers of decreasing size and an upper body that supports a cross and a forged weather vane. It measures a total of 50 metres. Its design was the work of the master builder of Seville Cathedral, Hernán Ruiz, “El Joven” (The Young Man), who was responsible for the renovation of the Giralda in the same period (1560) and built other important buildings in Seville and Cordoba.

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