- Address
Carrer de Sang Nova 15, Sagunto, Spain - Web
https://semanasantasagunto.com/ - Visiting Hours
Weekends from 10:30 to 13:30 - What to see
Frescoes and artifacts of the Holy Week, a copy of the Holy Grail
The Ermita de la Sangre in Sagunto, built in the early 17th century, is the headquarters of the Cofradía de la Puríssima Sang del nostre Senyor Jesucrist, one of the oldest in Spain, founded in the 16th century. Located on the slope of the hillside leading to the castle and the Roman theater, the chapel occupies the space of the old Jewish synagogue after the expulsion of the Jews in 1492.
With a baroque style, its plan presents a Latin cross with a semicircular vault and a dome decorated with shells depicting scenes from the Passion of Christ. Painted by José Vergara, belonging to the Valencian school of the eighteenth century, the chapel houses frescoes and plays a central role in the Sagunto Holy Week, being the starting point of most of the liturgical acts and guarding the processional steps.
The hermitage is part of the network of Confraternities of the Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the ancient Kingdom of Valencia, whose emergence in the 16th century was driven by devotion to the Holy Grail and late medieval religiosity. Although they flourished along the main communication routes, such as the Via Augusta, these brotherhoods had their heyday in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, spreading throughout various regions. Their legacy lives on in popular piety and in their influence on the culture and mentality of the people, despite the loss of much of their artistic heritage.
