The building

The exterior

This temple was founded when the image of the Virgin was transferred from the legendary cave in the ravine of Las Nieves. It was originally a small hermitage, the first known record of which dates back to 1517.
Its main façade, Renaissance, contains elements of traditional Canarian architecture, as can be seen in the balcony with parapet and balusters. The old chapel was rebuilt in 1665, becoming larger and also housing a bell tower. In 1672 the sacristy was enlarged and the Virgin’s dressing room was built.
The side doorway of the sanctuary is very striking and beautiful in Renaissance style, with a delicately sculpted pediment and the Virgin’s coat of arms.

The interior

The Sanctuary is a temple with a single nave, the result of innumerable works and adaptations, as well as throughout history, from 1520 to 1665, although there were other reforms after this date.
The traditional Mudejar ceiling from 1647, in whose carpentry work some of Antonio de Orbarán’s well-known colleagues and collaborators worked, such as Amaro Hernández de León and Luis de Francia.
The choir, high up at the foot of the Sanctuary, as well as the small interior ‘belfries with bells’, wooden replicas of the stone belfries outside, to be rung when the liturgy required it. The marble baptismal font, acquired in Seville (1667) and placed in the Baptistery at the same time, and the octagonal pulpit (1672).
The main chapel is covered by a barrel vault, decorated by the famous painter Ubaldo Bordanova Moreno (1866-1909).