The iglesia mayor de Santa María de la Encarnación (Santa María de la Encarnación principal church) was built over the former main mosque between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries. It therefore exhibits different architectural features from different styles, something that can be observed very clearly in the church’s interior. Part of the Arabic mosque’s mihrab (sacred niche indicating the direction of Mecca) is preserved, the entrance arch, decorated with gesso artwork from the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. The church was begun in 1508 in the late Gothic style, and the central of its three naves used to have a Mudéjar roof that was replaced with semi-spherical vaults after the earthquake of 1580, which caused structural damage to the church. There are seven chapels at the front of the church, which is done in Renaissance style, and many other details are clearly Baroque.
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