CHURCH OF OUR LADY OF CONSOLATION
This Catholic temple is widely known as ‘Los Terceros’, as it was built in the 17th century by the Third Order of Saint Francis as their monastery’s chapel, precisely in 1603 after the religious order sold their properties in Bollullos Par del Condado.
The church was ruled over the Third Order until they left the monastery, when it became the property of the Piarists (also known as Scolapi or Escolapios) in 1888, when they aimed at enlarging their educative community, consequently dwelling in the rooms of the aforesaid monastery and the old Palace of Ducado del Arco.
In 1973, following the departure of the Piarists to Montequinto, Cardinal Bueno Monreal assigned the use of the temple to the Hermandad de la Sagrada Cena (Brotherhood of the Last Supper), which had already been in the temple from 1936 to 1958, being in charge of the use and maintenance of the building. Moreover, the brotherhood was the main instigator of the restoration of the church’s roofs between 1988 and 1989, its facade in 2003 and the whole temple in 2019.
The building’s facade has a peculiar Hispanoamerican baroque style structured in the same fashion as a facade-altarpiece, decorated with geometric and floral baked clay elements. It is presided by the Third Orden’s coat of arms and a sculpture of Our Lady of Consolation and, on top of it, a sculpture of Saint Michael the Archangel.
The temple, in the form of a Latin Cross, with a single nave with five aisles and a dome above the crossing, was built, presumably, under the orders of architect and friar Diego Gómez, following the well-established baroque fashion of the period.
There are chapels at both sides of the chapel. On the left or Evangelist side, we first encounter the old chapel of Saint Joseph or the Saint Kings, nowadays used as an exposition room for the patrimony of the Brotherhood of the Last Supper. Next to it, there is the Sacramental chapel, decorated with frescos with floral elements and numerous paintings of saints from the Third Order.
On the right or Epistle side, there is the old chapel of the Hermandad de la Sagrada Columna y Azotes (Brotherhood of the Column and Flagellation), nowadays in disuse. Passing through the connection that communicates the church with the patio, there is the chapel of Our Lady of the Incarnation (stature attributed to Juan de Mesa, 17th century), from the extinct Brotherhood of Servitude and which, at present, is part of the Brotherhood of the Last Supper as its glorious and comforting representative. Below this chapel it can be found the ancient crypt of the aforementioned corporation, which now serves as the columbarium of the Last Supper Corporation. Furthermore, this room has direct access to what used to be the old house of the chaplain, now used as the house of the brotherhood of the Last Supper.
Within the church, and on top of the main entrance, there is a marvelous and ample choir which occupies two aisles of the nave. It has magnificent stalls (17th century) with reliefs of saints on its back seats, an organ and a remarkable choir loft can be found in this area as well.
The ample high altar is covered by a hemispherical dome and it is presided by a majestic baroque altarpiece, work of Dionisio de Ribas (17th century) and which was lately reformed by Francisco de Barahona (1700) so as to make it have an alcove, of a rococo style, of Our Lady of Consolation (14th century), also known as Our Lady of Morañina, which was brought to the church by the Third Order members at the beginning of the 17th century and which is considered to be, by different historians, as the origin of the actual Romería del Rocío.
In the central platform located in the main altarpiece we usually find the scultorical group of the Last Supper (the Señor de la Sagrada Cena is a work of Sebastián Santos, 1955, and the apostles are a work of Luis Ortega Bru, 1975-1983).
At both sides of the crossing we can find two altarpieces where the statues of Nuestra Señora del Subterráneo Reina de Cielos y Tierra (attributed to Juan de Astorga, beginning of the 19th century) and the Cristo de la Humildad y Paciencia (anonymous, 16th century), both representatives of the brotherhood.
Within the church you may find a peculiar sacristy with a rectangular floor and a barrel vault. On it, we find a chest of drawers and a polygonal marble table with tile mosaics surrounding its one leg.
We hope that your visit to this church fulfills its catechetical and spiritual purpose, and we humbly ask for your financial assistance for the maintenance of this temple, which can be done by making a donation in the different money boxes you may find around this temple or through Bizum.
COLLABORATE WITH THE MAINTENANCE OF THIS CHURCH
BIZUM -> Donations should be sent to the following code: 00527
Hermandad de la Sagrada Cena/Brotherhood of the Last Supper