Minor Basilica of Santísima María de la Esperanza Macarena

The Minor Basilica of Santísima María de la Esperanza Macarena is of modern construction and includes the most venerated image in Seville, the Virgen de la Esperanza, a popular carving from the 17th commonly known as the Macarena, and the interesting Museum where items from this popular religious group or "Hermandad" are on display.

On 18 March 1949, the new temple which to be used to host the Images of the Hermandad de la Macarena was blessed by Cardinal Archbishop of Seville, Pedro Segura y Sáenz. Until then they had been venerated in its chapel in the Parish of San Gil, which burned down in 1936.

In 1966, it was officially declared to be a "Minor Basilica" by Pope Paul VI. The church, which has a basilica floor plan, with a single barrel-vaulted nave with side lunettes and four chapels, was designed by Aurelio Gómez Millán, in Andalusian Baroque style, as demanded by the local administration.

The Basílica Menor of Santa María de la Macarena Esperanza is reached through a portico that combines arch and lintel supported on marble columns, on which is an entablature with a niche which houses the sculpture depicting the theological virtue of the Esperanza. On the second level of the façade is a graceful belfry, extended beyond.

The interior is decorated in marble of various colours and frescos of Rafael Rodríguez, designed using a iconographic series based on the Virgin Mary.

The presbytery and the side chapels contain gold-painted wooden altarpieces, works produced in the atélier of Juan Pérez Calvo. The largest, which hosts the Virgen de la Esperanza, we find the niche of the venerated Figure, whose decorated metalwork is one of the finest works of Fernando Marmolejo Camargo.

The images of Ntro. Padre Jesús de la Sentencia, the Virgin of Santo Rosario, Cristo de la Salvación and the Patron Saints of Latin America, are venerated in the four side chapels.