Iglesia del Santo Cristo de la Salud

The church of the Santísimo Cristo de la Salud, is a church of Catholic worship dating from the 16th and 17th centuries and was built by the Society of Jesus.

It is located at the confluence of Calle Compañía and Plaza de la Constitución in the historic centre, and is situated between the San Telmo School, home to the Ateneo de Málaga, and the Annex of the Villalón Palace, which forms part of the Carmen Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection Museum.

This church is the canonical seat of the Cofradía de los Estudiantes (Brotherhood of the Students), which performs during Holy Week in Malaga, the Hermandad de la Esclavitud Dolorosa (Brotherhood of the Sorrowful Slavery) and the Asociación del Cristo de la Salud, patron and protector of Malaga and its Town Hall.

The Jesuits settled in this area of the city next to a chapel dedicated to San Sebastián, whose small size made it necessary to build a church. The church is the work of Pedro Sánchez, who designed this octagonal Baroque building on a plot of land donated by Bishop Blanco Salcedo in 1572. It was inaugurated on 28 November 1630. The Jesuits Ángel Cortés and Díaz de Ribero designed the main altarpiece and the tabernacle. The main doorway dates from 1659 and 1660 and the altarpieces of San Ignacio and San Francisco Javier date from 1672 and 1678. In the following century, José Martín de Aldehuela opened a small chapel in the middle of the altarpiece dedicated to San Pedro.

After the confiscation and expulsion of the Jesuits in 1767, the church was transferred to the Montepío de Socorro, which ran the plot of land next to the Casa del Consulado and the San Telmo School. In 1790, they passed into the hands of the Sociedad Económica de Amigos del País.

In the mid-19th century, the Patronato del Santo Cristo de la Salud (Patronage of the Holy Christ of Health) was created. In 1849, the titular image was placed in the hollow previously occupied by the image of San Pedro. This is a carving by José Micael y Alfaro from 1633 and consists of the image of Jesus tied to the column. This carving is attributed to the miraculous healing that took place in the city in 1649 when it appeared during an epidemic.

In this church was the tomb of Pedro de Mena, now in the Cistercian abbey of Santa Ana.

After many years without intervention, the Andalusian Historical Heritage Institute is developing a Conservation Project that conserves, updates and musealises the church and its associated movable assets. The works were carried out from June 2013 to November 2014. The church was reopened for worship in January 2016.

In 2015, it was declared an Asset of Cultural Interest as a Monument, along with the other buildings that make up the Old Jesuit College of San Sebastián.

Article obtained from Wikipedia article Wikipedia in his version of 05/08/2022, by various authors under the license Licencia de Documentación Libre GNU.