Church of Santa Maria - Cadiz - Andalusia

The Santa Maria Convent, a mixture of Baroque and Mannerist styles , dates from the 17th century.

It has been the canonical seat of the Brotherhood of Nazarenes since 1616 when they moved there from the Misericordia Church. The Brotherhood has its own chapel connected to the Conventual Church.

The ancient Ermita de Santa Maria was the germ of the neighborhood of the same name that began to grow around it. Little is known of this primitive structure where the Conceptual Franciscan Sisters attempted to settle in 1527 , making Santa María the city's first convent.

Santa María suffered the consequences of the Anglo-Dutch attack of 1596, which badly damaged the building and forced it to be rebuilt. The work began at the beginning of the 17th century, from that time most of the elements of the current monastery date.

The tower of the cloister , work by Juan Parcero in 1760, consists of a first square body from which emerge four closed balconies, one on each side. Above it rises a second octagonal body, topped by a tower covered with 18th-century tiles with blue crosses on a white background.

The main altar of the church dates from 1765 and is an excellent work in gilded wood by José Benítez Melón. The carvings on the altarpiece are 18th-century Sevillian works from the defunct Convento de los Descalzos in our parish, except for the relief in the attic, which was made specifically for the Church of Santa Maria.

The church also has other interesting altarpieces and objects. We mention, for example , the pulpit in reddish marble and the water basin, made in the 18th century by Cayetano de Acosta, located in the sacristy of the monastery.

Our sisters of the Franciscan community of the Discalced Conception

The dear Conceptionist Franciscan Sisters have lived with the Nazarene Brotherhood since the arrival of our Brotherhood in the monastery in 1616.

Willem Vandenameele