Basílica de Jesús del Gran Poder - Seville

The current minor basilica of Jesús del Gran Poder was built to welcome and house the great devotion that the people of Seville had cherished for the image of the Lord for centuries.

The building, designed by Alberto Balbontín de Orta and Antonio Delgado Roig, is a historicist style church, built with contemporary materials and a classic finish. It is accessed through a facade that mixes Renaissance and Baroque elements that repeat the same ascending scheme: that of the door itself, to house the coat of arms in a split pediment; a second for the cartouche with the date of dedication and a third for the bell tower, with a similar structure in descending size, with three bells and a wrought iron cross. The rest of the basilica's facade is integrated into the square with the brotherhood's outbuildings and the parish church itself.

The interior has a circular plan preceded by an atrium with alcoves or porches with large balconies on the sides. The nave is simple and consists only of a high plinth of red and black marble (Gascó, 1965) and a white striped wall, decorated with the fourteen Stations of the Cross in as many canvases (Antonio Agudo Torrico, 1996).

The roof of the basilica has a lowered semicircular vault decorated with coffered ceilings and a central lantern. At the front is the presbytery, with a small altarpiece (Guzmán Bejarano, 1965) copied from the altarpieces of the Chapel of San Lorenzo (19th century). In the side streets are the statues of the Lord and the Blessed Virgin and John.

Willem Vandenameele