La Purificación parish chapel

This is Puente Genil’s oldest church and was its only parish church until the second half of the 20th century. Its original location would have been due to the first repopulation that occurred in the second half of the 13th century. However, there are no remains from this era, given that it bordered with Granada’s Nasrid kingdom and this land was exposed to the Moors’ continual razzias.

It is thought that the current construction must date back to the beginning of the 16th century, which is when inhabitants started to settle definitively in Pontón de Don Gonzalo. The area was named after its founder Gonzalo Yañez Dovinal. The oldest baptism registry book dates back to these early years. In addition to the three naves and some lost altarpieces of the ancient style, there is only a very modified 16th century altarpiece, which holds several painted panels and that today houses an image of the Virgen del Rosario. The altarpiece that houses the Virgen de las Angustias is the one that holds onto its ancient roots, dating back to 1640. It is baroque in style and is not polychromed, except for some small cherubs that support the Solomonic columns.

The whole church ensemble was renovated during the last third of the 19th century, except for the two individual chapels that belong to this church: del Carmen and Ánimas, built in the second half of the 18th century and the Sagrario built in the previous century.

Engineer Ricardo Moreno was the author of these reforms: he created a new main altarpiece, replaced the roofs, and decorated the enclosure with large paintings by local artists like Juan Montilla and Manuel Pérez de Siles. The main and side stone portals were built during this period. The tower was built in 1826. The church’s interior guards an important collection of silverware and some unique sculptures, such as the Inmaculada, created by the distinguished baroque sculptor Pedro Duque Cornejo.