Gothic Mudejar Church

The Ermita de la Concepción, located in the old mosque, became too small for worship services, which made it necessary to build a new church for the town. The new church was built in an enclave relatively far from the castle, which would become a nucleus around which the urban expansion of the town would be agglutinated. The temple, of great constructive complexity, is considered a unique monument of the Archdiocese of Seville, due to the type of pointed barrel vault used in its three naves and the uniqueness of the Portada del Perdón. Construction may have begun at the beginning of the 14th century, according to the Mudejar style. Later, throughout the 15th century, it was completed with a series of works, well fitted into the previous ones, among which the Gospel and Epistle doors framed by abutments and alfiz stand out. In the first third of the 16th century the choir, the tower and the Door of Forgiveness were built, the latter being an element of evident stylistic singularity in the religious architecture of the whole area. The Portada is a magnificent example of the Portuguese Manueline style, characteristic of the rural churches of the Alentejo. It must have been erected around 1530, since the coat of arms that crowns it, according to Professor Pérez Embid, belonged to Cardinal Don Alonso Manrique de Lara, Archbishop of the See of Seville from 1524 to 1538. It is built with local limestone. A great arch framed by two pinnacles, shelters another ogee arch that gives entrance to the temple. Its design and central decoration with themes associated with both Manueline and Gothic tropical vegetation, marine motifs, animals fighting, anthropomorphic beings, etc., stand out. At the beginning of the XVII century, the small mannerist doorway that gives access to the sacristy was built and in the same century, the current Tabernacle. The earthquake of 1755 significantly affected the building, which was restored by the architect Pedro de Silva.