The Church of The Virgin of Mercedes

The church of Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes was rebuilt on the site of the shrine to Saint Antonio Abad in 1780 by Francisco Javier Pedrajas. Its design is based on a traditional cross, its transept dominated by a double-sectioned cross-vaulted roof and a large segmented cupola: this rests on a rounded cornice, supported by an imposing array of archangels. Individual displays of delicate rococo plasterwork spread throughout the building, flooded by the natural light which streams in from the roof and dome.
The altarpiece and its supporting screens are the work of Pedrajas: it has a base, two superior levels, and a central chapel, flanked by Corinthian columns with overlapping bindings: these separate the sidepieces – housing the figures of Saint Ramón Nonato and Saint Thomas Aquinas — from the central chapel with its figure of the Virgin. The plasterwork and mouldings are gilded.
The main chapel with its diminutive figure of Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes is all that remains of the ancient shrine. Believed to be the work of Juan de Dios Santaella in 1753, it is square in form, with curved insets, and flanked by four angels on plinths.
The neoclassical doorway with its twin pillars is in marble, by the craftsman Nicolás Duroni: only the first level was completed, in 1799.
The church has been declared a national monument.