Candelaria Collegiate Church and Its Zurbaráns

What it is

The church of Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria replaced the old main church, which stood where the Plaza Grande opens today. It was begun in 1527 on the initiative of the third Count of Feria and opened for worship in 1546, still unfinished; work continued until the last decade of the century. It was built by the master builders Juan García de las Lieves and his son-in-law, Andrés de Maeda. In 1609, thanks to the efforts of the third Duke of Feria, it was raised to the rank of Colegial Insigne (collegiate church), and a new sacristy and a chapter house were added then.

The plan follows the models of the late 15th and early 16th centuries: a single nave with chapels between the buttresses, a raised choir at the foot, a short transept and an octagonal chevet. Despite the length and irregularity of the work, the interior has great unity.

The Zurbaráns and the rest of the interior

Its treasure is the altarpiece of the Virgen de los Remedios, a classicist frame with nine canvases by Francisco de Zurbarán painted in 1644 on commission from the Zafra merchant Alonso de Salas Parra. It is the reason many people come in.

But it is not the only thing. The high altarpiece, the most spectacular piece, was made between 1656 and 1683, the work of Blas de Escobar, José de Arce and other Sevillian Baroque artists. Blas de Escobar also signed the altarpiece of the Virgen del Carmen. The Baroque chapel of the Virgen de la Valvanera was paid for by the Cameros merchants, from the Cameros mountains of La Rioja, who had settled in the town. There is also an 18th-century organ, the funerary monuments of the merchants Juan Ramírez el Viejo and Alonso Sánchez el Viejo and, in the old sacristy, a collection of silverwork in which the Cáliz Rico and a processional monstrance stand out. It is a church of merchants as much as of dukes: a good part of the art was paid for by Zafra's commercial bourgeoisie.

How to visit

It is on Calle Tetuán, at the corner with Calle Conde de la Corte, two minutes from the Plaza Grande. It is a parish church, and the town council does not publish visiting hours or Mass times; to go in outside services, ask at the tourist office on the Plaza de España, on 924 551 036, which is open Monday to Saturday from 10:00 to 14:00 and from 17:00 to 19:00, and on Sunday morning. It cannot be visited during Mass.

Allow half an hour: time to look at the nine canvases and the high altarpiece in peace. The collegiate church is one of the stops on the Zafra Única route, on the same Calle Tetuán as the old hospital of San Ildefonso, built over the house of Ruy López, the chess player. If you are interested in the town's religious art, combine it with the Santa Clara Museum, a few minutes away.