Santa María La Blanca Church

The Church of Santa María de las Nieves in Seville, better known as Santa María la Blanca, is located in the historic area known as the “Judería”, where Calle San José meets Calle Santa María la Blanca. It was a synagogue built in the thirteenth century. In 1391, after the massacre and forced conversion of the Jews, it was transformed into a Christian church, being rebuilt in the middle of the 17th century with funding from Justino de Neve y Yébenes.

In addition to this remarkable historical evolution and the interesting artistic heritage it conserves, the temple stands out as one of the most dazzling examples of Andalusian architecture from the first Baroque period.  Its floorplan is simple. It earns its dynamism and typically baroque chromatic richness thanks to the plasterwork and the paintings that decorate the interior of the church. It is the seat of the Brotherhood of the Rosario de Nuestra Señora de las Nieves.

The church has a rectangular floorplan, with the chancel and two naves, also rectangular, attached to the wall of the Epistle. Inside, it has three naves divided into six sections by 10 Tuscan columns of red marble. Above them, there are arches that support barrel vaults with false lunettes in the central nave and arched vaults in the lateral naves. In the last two sections of the central nave, before the presbytery, a dome is erected on pendentives, illuminated by two lateral oculi. The presbytery is covered by a barrel vault with lunettes.