HERMITAGE OF JESUS NAZARENO

The hermitage was built in 1610, although as is well known, Jesús Nazareno Brotherhood had already existed since 1596.   The Mudejar tradition prevailed in the construction of the church, similar to the hermitage of the Vera Cruz, which has always been covered by wooden roofs.

From ruin, a new rise.

Its tumbledown state after the Lisbon earthquake in 1755 motivated its reconstruction in 1766. The works were financed almost entirely by Mr. Juan Luque Granados and Grecia, an important figure of the period.    New altarpieces and the chapel of Christ of the Column were built.

Even with the improvements, the hermitage retained its old layout with a single nave and a squared head. The main chapel of the hermitage was covered with a half-orange vault on pendentives, decorated with small tondos on which the four Evangelists are represented.  .

The altarpiece is a wonder of the Baroque period.

The main altar of the church is decorated with a carved and gilded wooden altarpiece, on a dark green background, from the 18th Century. It shows a classic arrangement (bench, main body and crowning of the altarpiece).

The complex is presided over by the carving of Jesus Nazarene by Martínez Cerrillo in 1937. The original, made in 1701 by the Cordoban sculptor Andrés de Ramos, disappeared around 1936. On the sides of the Nazarene are exposed the images of Saint John the Evangelist and Saint Veronica, made by Justo Luque.   Both occupy the place of those that were destroyed in 1936.

Did you know…?

On one of the sides can be found the altarpiece of Our Lady of Sorrows, made of carved wood on a dark background.   Its main image dates from the beginning of the 18th Century and seems to belong to the Granadan school of sculpture. It is an image of a candlestick that belongs to the Parish Church of Santiago of Lucena.

Nuestro Padre Jesús Nazareno Brotherhood, which has more than four hundred brothers, has its headquarters in this hermitage.