JAÉN

   The Basílica-Santuario de Nuestra Señora de la Capilla and The Sacra Iglesia Parroquial of San Ildefonso Parish is a Catholic Christian church that was built in 1248 in the suburb of San Ildefonso and it is located in the homonymous square, which is governed by a sculpture dedicated to Immaculate Conception of Mary. Because of the "Descent of the Virgin" in 1430, this temple acquired great importance and became a sanctuary and a minor basilica of the saint patron of the city.

   In this church are buried the remains of the architect Andrés de Vandelvira, mentor of the cathedrals of Jaén and Baeza, who died in 1575.

   With the building of the chapel, in an old suburb around the Arab city in the neighborhood of San Ildefonso, a small chapel in the center of the new district was built (1248). It was founded as a parish in the 14th century and it is a small poor parish, but it is smaller than the current parish because it didn't have lateral naves.

   After the descent of the Virgin to the city in 1430, the small chapel assumed great importance and it became a sanctuary which pays homage to the Virgin. From this moment, the little chapel becomes a great temple with the appearance of a cathedral.

   On June 9, 2010 the basilica was declared a minor basilica by Pope Benedict XVI

      The bell tower of the basilica is divided of four parts separated from each-other by undercut ledges. The first part is square and was built between 1584 and 1585. In this part is located the shield of Bishop Francisco Sarmiento de Mendoza. The second body has two windows superimposed on each facade. It was completed in 1600 and has a shield with an image of Bishop Bernardo de Sandoval y Rojas, fulfilled by Christopher Tellez, who sculpted it in stone with pink marble.

   The other part was built between 1608 and 1610, it has an octagonal floor with pinnacles at the corners, and there are bells. It has a shield with the image of Bishop Sancho Dávila Toledo, which has a clock in his body that was installed around 1620 by the watchmaker Diego Morante. This part has a Gothic spire disappeared at present and was built by Sebastian Solis in 1624. This was replaced in the reform of the tower at the end of the 18th century. The last part is octagonal as the previous one; it is a dome where appears the shield of Bishop Fernando Andrade Castro.

   The present temple has three façades of different times and, therefore, of different styles that extend from the gothic through the neoclassical.

   The main façade was built in the 18th century. It is a neoclassical style, was designed by Ventura Rodríguez and made by Francisco Calvo. It is composed by four columns that hold a cornice with a triangular pediment. Behind it and over the wall it’s located a pedestal with the figure of San Ildefonso, with two torches on each side.

   The primitive façade is in the rear of the church. It is an Elizabethan Gothic style that was built in the time of Bishop Alonso Suárez. It has been restored with a mosaic of Santiago Pedrós, which closes the primitive temple door.

   The interior is Gothic, with a hall church with three naves of pillars that support the pointed arches, following the lines of Gothic. The Tabernacle is baroque, from Pedro Duque Cornejo. The door of the sacristy is wooden with carving stars. The ant sacristy and the sacristy has vaults and in this rooms keep paintings, religious objects of great value...

   The greater altarpiece presides over the church and takes up the front wall of the temple. It is a baroque style. It is made in gilded wood by Pedro Duque Cornejo in the 17th or 18th century.