Santa María de la Mesa Church

XVII Century. It was finished in 1755 under the direction of the sculptor architect Antonio Matías de Figueroa, being built on the site and taking advantage of many of the materials that until 1731 occupied an old chapel called San Francisco, thus giving way to what we see today. On the outside, the main façade stands out. It presents a baroque façade of pink marble whose top coincides with the crown in curved bevel that covers the front of the central nave. It is the work of the master builder Diego Pérez de Acevedo. There is a second entrance called the Door of Forgiveness; it is finished off with a curved pediment. In height stand out the dome, in curvilinear form and covered by glazed tiles and the bell tower. It is topped with a pyramidal roof, covered with eighteenth-century blue and white tiles of Sevillian tradition. It is a temple of three naves, the central one, higher and wider than the lateral ones, is separated of these by pilasters of Tuscan order that support groin vaults, and gallonada dome in the transept, on curly cornice. Inside the church it is of highlighting the organ, that is installed on a semicircular arch that covers the entrance of the main door, it is of century XVIII. At the foot of the central nave we find a choir with lectern and fifteen seats, one for each clergyman that in 1779 counted the parish. It is made of Flanders pine wood by the Sevillian sculptor Francisco del Valle. The top of the headboard is by Juan Ignacio de Salamanca. The High Altarpiece, with a good artistic balance, is of baroque style. Other smaller altarpieces are distributed in the other naves. Finally, we have to mention the Treasury or Parish Museum, magnificent expression of the religious art, in which we can find: several chalices (the oldest of the XVIII century); a portaviático of 1666, made by the Sevillian silversmith Juan Birto de Espinar; several wrought silver rods; and a collection of religious attire from the XVI to the XVIII centuries. The most important pieces due to their popular roots are a sacramental script (1760 - 1765) and an ostensory (1775). The first is made of embossed silver with bells and was exhibited at the Ibero-American Exposition of Seville in 1929. Nowadays it gives way to the processional procession every year in the feast of Corpus Christi. It is one of the most representative pieces of the Sevillian goldsmithery of the XVIII century. The rich ostensory, as well as the rococo style script, is an authentic work of art, it is also carried in procession on Corpus Christi day, its height is 85 cm. And it weighs 6.3 kg. The whole monstrance is made of silver and precious stones.