Basílica de la Macarena

Basílica de La Macarena, off Calle San Luis, is the home of Seville’s most revered Virgin and will give you a whiff of the fervour inspired by Semana Santa. The Virgen de la EsperanzaMacarena (Macarena Virgin of Hope), a magnificent statue adorned with a golden crown, lavish vestments, and five diamond-and-emerald brooches donated by a famous 20th-century matador, Joselito El Gallo, stands in splendour behind the main altarpiece. La Macarena, as she is commonly known, is the patron of bullfighters and Seville’s supreme representation of the grieving, yet hopeful, mother of Christ. The power of this fragile, beautiful statue is most evident in the wee hours of the madrugá (Good Friday) Semana Santa procession. Where she passes, a rain of rose petals falls, and crazed sevillanos shout: ‘Macarena, guapa’ (Beautiful Macarena). To top it all off a saeta (sacred Andalusian song) is sung, praising the Virgin’s beauty. The church also has a museum and across the street is the longest surviving stretch of Seville’s 12th- century Almohad walls.