The Basilica of Our Lady of Socorro is a religious building that belongs to the artistic style called Levante Valencian Baroque. Its large size is due to the will of the Dukes of Maqueda-Arcos to build a temple. The construction was carried out in different phases, beginning construction around the 1650s. In a first stage the ship was built to where the chapels conclude. This period would finish around 1674, being in charge of the works the architects Francesc Verde and Pere Quintana, who were the same master architects who worked in Santa María de Elche. Later a new push is given, building the communion chapel between 1722 and 1729, which is attached to the head of the church transversally. The place occupied by the communion chapel was the site of the old church, which in turn had been the Muslim mosque. Finally, between 1729 and 1737 the works of the temple are concluded, rising the Dome and the Bell Tower by the master stonemason Lorenzo Chápuli. The shape of the temple is longitudinal and cruciform, an expression of classical architecture of the second half of the 16th century. It consists of a single nave, to give a feeling of spaciousness, without obstacles to be able to visualize the altar well. On the sides we find small chapels between buttresses that communicate with each other so as not to interrupt the religious office. The access to these is made from the central nave by means of arches of half point of high thread. The pillars that separate the chapels are marked by red crosses inscribed in a circle, a symbol that was made during the last consecration of the temple and that reproduces the twelve apostles as spiritual columns of the church. The longitudinal plan has a clear relationship with the main altar that rises on three steps. In it we find the main altarpiece, which is made of wood in a semicircular shape that adapts to the altar. It was built in the second half of the 18th century and corresponds to the Rococo style. In the center of the altarpiece there is a niche that houses the image of Ntra. Sra. Del Socorro, a sculpture from the middle of the 20th century. The side streets contain niches with the carvings of San Pedro and San Pablo. In the attic we can observe a relief of the Glory, where the Eternal Father is emerging from a cloud surrounded by angels-child and the dove is represented as a symbol of the Holy Spirit. The roof is covered with a barrel vault with lunettes, which are those small half-moon vaults that are used to give light to the main vault. In the pendentives (curvilinear triangles that form the ring of the dome and rest on the arches), there are the representations of the four evangelists with their distinctive sign: Matthew with the Angel, Marcos with the Lion, Lucas with the Ox, Juan with the Eagle. It has three access covers. The main cover dedicated to the owner of the parish, Nuestra Señora del Socorro, whose authorship is attributed, according to the most modern studies, to the sculptor Juan Antonio Salvatierra, follower of Nicolás de Bussi The lateral cover of the side of the Gospel is dedicated to Saint Teresa of Jesus and the door next to the Epistle to Saint John the Baptist. We highlight: Angels, who are found in the 3 facades, are intermediaries between our world and that of the divinity. Fruits, symbolize abundance and respond to the desire for immortality. Flowers are the most abundant symbolic element of the temple, it symbolizes the transience of things. Leaves, very abundant in the façade, symbolize the whole of a collectivity, united in the same action and in the same thought. The sun and the moon are opposite signs that represent the conflicts of forces and the negative and the positive. The columns, masks, masks and cherubs, symbolize that they will protect everyone who does not enter with a predisposition to open up to the deity. The tower symbolizes the need to always be watching. The devil symbolizes that by remaining blindly subject to instinct, the fall of the spirit will occur. The crown symbolizes the reward of the proof of life and therefore a promise of immortal life. The parish was recognized with the distinction of Minor Basilica by Pope Benedict XVI by bull issued on July 15, 2006, adding to the basilicas of Santa Maria de Alicante and Santa María de Elche, thus recognizing the importance and influence of the temple in the religious celebrations, especially the Patron Saint Festivities in honor of Ntra. Sra. de las Nieves.

Church of ‘Saint James’ dedicated to the patron saint of the town, is set at the very top of the Old Town on a hill called Canfali. It is a Neoclassical building, built in the 18th Century with the typical blue Mediterranean dome. Inside you´ll find a statue of the Virgen del Sufragio, the well-lovedpatron saint of Benidorm. The Virgin has her own small chapel containing the little wood sculpture which, as the story goes, was found on a boat adrift on the high seas.

Construction started in 1595 and continued throughout the 17th and 18th centuries. The religious settlement was made up of three elements: The Chapel of the Venerable Third Order, the church and the convent (demolished in 1974). The old chapel was built between 1758 and 1762 in a neoclassical style and is unique in the province of Alicante in being the only example of chapel constructed as an independent church attached to the main temple of worship. It is the seat of the Municipal Archive in which the oldest document preserved dates back to 1350. The temple was built around a single nave with flower and cherub motifs in a Baroque style. Nowadays it is known as the Little Theatre (El Teatret) and is used as an exhibition, concert and lecture hall.

The origins of the temple go back to 1588, although its current style is neoclassical. It has a Latin cross plan, with three sections and chapels, without a dome, with a vault over the presbytery and a choir added to the feet, in the first section of the nave. The Communion chapel is next to the main altar, closing the rectangle of the floor. The temple was burned in 1936 and subsequently rebuilt. Highlights the classic altarpiece of the main altar, with Corinthian columns. Masonry walls and sloping tile roofs.

It is the most emblematic building of the population. Baroque style (1776). Inside it keeps the image of the Ecce-Homo of the s. XVI and patron of the town. Formerly it was a hospital that also housed travelers and pilgrims.

It was founded in 1664. It occupied what are now the offices of the local police and nursing home. It had a church with a single nave, wide and capable. The convent was solid, with a tiny central patio, of extremely simple Renaissance style, from the second alcantarina period. Life in this convent was quiet until the nineteenth century, when the Community had to dissolve during the French invasion. After this, the religious gathered again until they were exclaustrated in 1835 for the confiscation of Mendizabal. The City Council seized the building, which was assigned to First Instance Court, jail and hospital. The church remained open to worship and served by the exclaustrated religious. One of those religious, Fr. Pedro Barrachina, set up a public school. The restoration of the convent of Pego was due to the initiative of priests of the town who urged the superiors to reopen the convent. In 1891 Cardinal Monescillo, Archbishop of Valencia signed the opening license. At the end of the same year two religious arrived, who settled provisionally in the house of the priest D. Pascual Server. In 1892 the first stone of the new convent was laid. He directed the works Fray Mateo Company, according to the plans of the architect D. Joaquín Arnau. The church, of Gothic style, was blessed in 1901 and dedicated to the Holy Family. Until 1909 the Franciscan major seminary was in this convent. In 1910 the square was arranged in front of the convent and a Via Crucis was erected. Conventual schools were legalized. In 1925 an organ was acquired and the altarpieces of the lateral chapels were gilded. In 1929 the main altar was reformed. During the Republic of 1931-36 the house of Pego was not closed and it was destined to novitiate. But in 1936 the building was occupied by the Communists, and the faithful Bonaventura Botella, Antonio Ribera and Sebastián Ferrer died martyrs of the faith. On April 9, 39 the church was reconciled, opening to the cult. The high altar could be restored in 1942. It was erected parish in 1953.

The parochial Church of Saint Mary, located in the town square, is in the barroque style and it was completed in the years 1752. Inside, in the shape of the Latin cross the church has many stones that were once part of an ancient temple built at the foot of the castle, now the town theater. The top of the bell tower was destroyed down to the belfry foundations during the Spanish civil war, restoration work was started in 1950 and finished a year later when the current clock was put in place. Along “Calle de la Malena” we came to the door of the visiting communion Chapel, built after the main church. The first stone was laid on the 17th of June 1897, and it was officially open two years later on September the third 1899 to coincide whit the fest of the sacred relics.

It is located in the street of its same name. Its construction was carried out on the former cemetery of the town. In 1984 the appropriate management to the restoration of the hermitage was undertaken. At that time it was set in the Molí Sol. It was dismantled stone by stone and moved to its current location in the street called San Jorge. Its architectural style is neogothic. It is an only rectangular nave with an apse at the back and two stained glass windows relating to Saint George, Banyeres and the festival in his honour. It is an isolated building constructed with ashlars and a very sloping roof made of slate. The facade is oriented towards the North and is framed by two pilasters with capitals and pinnacles located at the corners.

In Altea, in the Altea Hills Urbanization, there is the first Russian Orthodox Church built in Spain. Built in wood, the church is very picturesque and very pleasant to visit. If there is no ceremony, you can visit it inside. If you are in the area, the visit is curious and you should not miss it. All materials have been brought for construction from Russia, and built with Russian labor. Not all. The bells are Spanish. Enjoy a church like no other in Europe in Altea.