Basílica de Santa María (Elche)

A Baroque basilica in the centre of Elche, built between 1673 and 1784 on the site of a former mosque and known as the stage of the Misteri d'Elx mystery play. From the viewpoint on its tower, 37 metres up, you can see the city and its palm groves.

The Basílica de Santa María is a Baroque basilica in the centre of Elche, best known as the stage of the Misteri d'Elx mystery play. According to the basilica's website, the same site was previously occupied in turn by a mosque, a Gothic church and a Renaissance church. The foundation stone of the present church was laid on 2 July 1673, and it was not consecrated until 3 October 1784, after more than a century of building work. This explains its mix of styles: Italian-influenced Baroque on the main façade, Rococo on the other doorways and the ambulatory, and a Neoclassical interior, especially in the Communion Chapel. The figure of the Assumption on the main doorway is the work of Nicolás de Bussy (1682), who set it within a group of the Holy Trinity. In February 1936 the interior was set on fire and the image of the city's patron saint was destroyed; restoration began in 1939. The present image of the Virgin was made in 1940 by the Valencian sculptor José Capuz. In 1951 Pope Pius XII granted the church the title of minor basilica. Every year on 14 and 15 August it hosts the Assumption mystery play (Misteri d'Elx), a sacred drama in old Valencian with a few lines in Latin. Scholars date its origins to the second half of the 15th century, and the Spanish Wikipedia notes that it is the only work of its kind performed without interruption to the present day. In 1632 Pope Urban VIII allowed the play to be staged inside the church, and in 2001 UNESCO proclaimed it a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. During the performance, stage machines such as the Mangrana and the Araceli are lowered from above. Inside, look out for the organ built in 2006 by Gerhard Grenzing to recreate the lost 18th-century instrument. The Communion Chapel houses the MUVAPE museum, dedicated to the Virgin of the Assumption, the patron saint of Elche. From the tower viewpoint, 37 metres up (170 steps, two telescopes), there is a panorama of the city, the palm groves and the Mediterranean. On the way up you pass two small rooms, once used by the bell-ringer, with panels of photos and texts on the history, and at the top of the tower hang four bells, the oldest of which, Ave María, dates from 1654. Nearby are the Palacio de Altamira, the Arab Baths (Baños Árabes), the Torre de la Calahorra and the churches of the Poor Clares and of San José.