Ermita del Buen Suceso

At the beginning of the 18th century, in 1723 as the façade tells us, Palma del Río saw the Ermita de Nuestra Señora del Buen Suceso constructed. It may be that the great undertaking occurred to commemorate a naval act, a boat saved miraculously from a storm, as the paintings and inscriptions on the vault express.

The church, which was then outside the historic quarter, was surrounded by adjoining buildings that diminished its visibility. Destroyed during the Civil War, it remained closed, then it was an academy. Today, it is occupied by the Santo Entierro Brotherhood, which gives it life with a beautiful Bethlehem scene during Christmas festivities.

However, the simplicity and beauty of this shrine is admirable. It has a brick doorway with an intriguing trefoil arch and flanked by estipite columns attached as support mechanisms. You can still make out its small belfry, its attractive choir and its magnificent octagonal dome in the transept. The dome is ornately decorated with painted plant motifs and pendentives with paintings referring to the defence of Palma del Río. The nave is covered by a vault with lunettes, and references are made to the naval event with an elegant boat and its unfurled sails.