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Shrine of Santa María Magdalena

Novelda, El Vinalopó Mitjà, Alicante

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Spain › Valencian Community › Alicante › El Vinalopó Mitjà › Novelda › Shrine of Santa María Magdalena

Shrine of Santa María Magdalena

Monument · Novelda, El Vinalopó Mitjà, Alicante

The sanctuary of Santa María Magdalena stands at the foot of the hill of la Mola, in Novelda, next to the castle of la Mola. It was built to a design by the Novelda-born engineer José Sala Sala, with some inspiration from the modernism of Antoni Gaudí, and bears a distant resemblance to the Sagrada Família in Barcelona: its jug shape symbolises the one the saint carried with balm to Jesus. The works, begun in 1918, continued in three phases until 1946. The façade, with two 25-metre towers topped by a cross, combines pebbles from the Vinalopó River, polychrome tiles, brick and masonry. In the apse the image of the patroness of Novelda is venerated, and every 22 July, her feast day, the selection of the grapes that accompany her in procession is held here.

Photo: JMPerez~commonswiki (Wikimedia Commons) (GPL)

What to see and do in Novelda