What to do · Jerez de los Caballeros
Museum of Sacred Art and Holy Week exhibition
Information
- Duration
- 45 min
- Season
- All year, closed on Mondays
- Who it's for
- Everyone
The Museum of Sacred Art brings together in one building what the churches and chapels of Jerez de los Caballeros kept for centuries. And recently it has added a permanent exhibition on Jerez's Holy Week, to see on any day of the year. It is one of the few visits in the old town with fixed hours and that is also open on Sunday morning.
The building
The museum occupies the Vicariate Palace, from the 18th century, which was the residence of the Vicar General of the Order of Santiago, the order that governed Jerez after the Templars. It is on Calle Fuente de los Santos 16, in the old town.
The collection
The pieces are arranged in five groups. In sculpture there are carvings of primitive workmanship, such as a 16th-century Virgin and Child. The choir books (cantorales) date from the mid-16th century, with ornamented musical notation. The goldwork and silverwork brings together liturgical objects in gold and silver used over centuries. There is painting from churches and chapels of the town, and a last group of reliquaries and altarpieces: urns, lecterns, altars, small altarpieces and Eucharistic urns.
The Holy Week exhibition
Jerez's Holy Week is of National Tourist Interest. The palace's new permanent exhibition brings together the heritage of its brotherhoods, pieces that previously only went out into the street a few days a year. It serves to understand it before seeing it in spring, or for those who cannot come on those dates: on Palm Sunday the Borriquita comes out, on Holy Monday the Empalaos process, and Holy Thursday, the early hours of Good Friday and the Easter Sunday Holy Encounter are the most intense moments. It is included in the museum visit.
Hours and admission
The tourist office's museums page gives these hours: Tuesday to Saturday 10:00 to 14:00 and 17:00 to 19:00, and Sunday 10:00 to 14:00. It is closed on Mondays. The front page of the same website gives the afternoon as 16:30 to 18:30, so, if you go in the afternoon, confirm on 924 750 499. No price is published. Allow about 45 minutes.
What to combine
About 200 m away is the Vasco Núñez de Balboa House Museum: together they fill a relaxed morning. Then you can see the churches these pieces came from, such as San Bartolomé or San Miguel, on Plaza de España. If you arrive on a Sunday, when other places have no published hours, this museum is a safe bet in the morning.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Museum of Sacred Art open on Sundays?
Yes, from 10:00 to 14:00. It is closed on Mondays.
Can you see Holy Week outside Holy Week?
Yes, in the Museum of Sacred Art's permanent exhibition, included in the visit.
Where is it?
In the Vicariate Palace, Calle Fuente de los Santos 16.
