Iglesia de San Juan de Dios
Set up in the 16th. Century as the
hospital of St. Sebastián attached to a hermitage. In 1596 all the hospitals in Arcos were brought
together here under one roof. In the patio, the harmony of the columns is offset by the ornate
Baroque staircase. The church was consacrated in 1597 and has been described by Romero de Torres as
“a pretty Baroque church, pleasantly simple and free from excessive decoration.” The main features
are: the Baroque central altarpiece in ungilded Flanders pine (1735); the figure of the Vera-Cruz
Christ, carved in Gothic style by Antón Vázquez in 1545; a figure of Our Lady, “Nuestra señora de
las Angustias”, which featured in the 1292 Hispano-American Exhibition in Seville, and is
unusually, in a sitting position.
