Basílica de Nuestra Señora del Socorro

Religious

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.