Basilica Menor de Santa Maria de la Asunción - Arcos de la Frontera - Andalusia

The small Gothic-Platresque-Baroque basilica of Santa Maria de la Asuncion is of the fourteenth-eighteenth century .

This parish church is the oldest, most celebrated and most important of Arcos and only in 1993 it was declared a Basilica . The temple, separated from all surrounding buildings, stands on the remains of an Arab mosque and was under construction for six centuries. The most important works were carried out between the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.

The main facade shows the fusion of late Gothic and early Plateresque. On the right (Plaza del Cabildo) you can see the unfinished bell tower , designed by V. Bengoechea after the earthquake of 1755. The tower is square and has three sections ; entrance, balcony and bell tower. In the second section are the statues of San Pedro, San Pablo and the Immaculate Virgin.

Worth noting inside are the Retable Mayor , an altarpiece that is a veritable Renaissance jewel; the gothic mural of the incorrupt mummy of San Felix; the Nieves Chapel which houses the statue of the patron of Arcos; the extravagant organ and choir, considered one of the best in Andalusia .

Willem Vandenameele