Church of the Holy Spirit
Ronda - Málaga
Created by the Catholic Monarcas on top of the erstwhile mosque in the upper quarter, it was consecrated to the Sancti Spiritus to commemorate the day on which the city was taken.
The building shows a large degree of uniformity in its construction. The work was undertaken at the end of the 15th and beginning of the 16th Centuries and corresponds to a hybrid of Gothic and Renaissance styles typical of that period.
The church consists of a single nave divided in three parts with a roof of ribbed stellar vaults, of a much later time. A large, semicircular, triumphal archway, built on thick, elevated pillars embedded into the wall, opens on to the main chapel.
The front of the church is occupied by an altarpiece on which there are three shields curved in stone: two of these belong to Father Bernardo de Manrique, during whose bishopric the work was undertaken, the third being the imperial coat-of-arms of the House of Austria.
The entire construction is of ashlar masonry. The exterior of the building has a fortified aspect, very common in that period. The façade is quite simple, following the patterns of the late-Gothic style. The doorway boasts a semicircular archway unevenly framed by an alfiz, the only trace of Mudejar influence noticeable in the church. Above the archway there is a small niche with a dove, symbolizing the Holy Spirit.
Situation: Plaza del Espíritu Santo, near the .
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