Capilla de los Marineros - Seville

The Chapel of the Sailors is a Catholic building and is the headquarters of the brotherhood Hermandad de la Esperanza de Triana. It was built in 1759 on the same site as the chapel of the Colegio de Mareantes de Sevilla. After the French occupation it was secularized and converted into a warehouse and also became an Anglican church and theater.

In 1953 , at the request of its spiritual leader José Sebastián y Bandarán, the Hermandad de la Esperanza (Fraternity of Hope) decided to restore it and work began in 1958 with a project by Aurelio Gómez Millán. The ordination took place in 1962 and on Good Friday of that year the brotherhood concluded its penance at its new headquarters.

The chapel is divided into three naves , a central nave and two side naves. The sculpted coffered ceiling, made of red pine from the now disappeared Villasís school, stands out. The central chandelier, carved in 19th-century glass, comes from the now-vanished Café Gran Britz.

The choir is dominated by the main altarpiece, with two sections and three aisles, from the second third of the 18th century. In the central part of the altarpiece is the venerated image of Our Lady of Hope of Triana. The author is unknown, but it is attributed to Juan de Astorga, in the 19th century.

In 2010, an expansion began , according to an architectural project by José Ramón Rodríguez Gautier, and thanks to the brotherhood's purchase of land next to the chapel. The comprehensive reform of the church included two new altarpieces and modern security systems for the statues. After the work, the chapel was blessed on April 29, 2010 by Juan José Asenjo Pelegrina, Archbishop of Seville.

Willem Vandenameele