The Basílica de Santa María dominates the old town of Elche with a baroque mass of stone topped by a blue-tiled dome visible from across the city. Construction began in 1672 on the site of an earlier mosque, and it took well over a century to complete. The dome, clad in glazed azulejo tiles in deep blue and white, is immediately recognisable from the streets around it — a visual signature for Elche in the way the Sagrada Família is for Barcelona, but on a far quieter scale.
Inside, the elliptical nave is unusually theatrical in design, a deliberate choice: the basilica was built specifically to serve as the stage for the Misteri d'Elx, and the interior — with its high dome, balconies, and pulley mechanisms built into the ceiling — is engineered for performance as much as worship. If you look up, you can still see the openings in the dome through which the araceli (the cloud machinery) descends during the August Mystery Play. The church is open for visits outside of services; climbing to the bell tower gives you views over the Palmeral spreading out below.