Chapel of Our Lady of Good Health

The Chapel of Our Lady of Good Health is a small shrine in Xirivella, a town right next to Valencia in Spain's Valencian region. For centuries it has served as the religious heart of the town, and it now sits on the local heritage register.

How did this place come to be?

Local tradition holds that a statue of the Virgin was discovered buried beneath a tree, together with a bell. To mark the exact spot of that discovery, a small chapel — an ermita, in Spanish — went up in 1604. That modest building is the seed from which a Marian devotion grew, one that residents of Xirivella still keep alive today.

What happened to the building over the centuries?

Christian worship on this site actually predates the chapel by centuries. The first church here was raised between 1246 and 1279 by the military Order of Calatrava, which had been granted the lands of Xirivella by King James I in 1238 as a reward for its role in the conquest of Valencia.

Late in the 17th century, a major flood badly damaged that earlier structure. Reconstruction began before the century was out and carried on into the 18th century, producing the temple whose layout survives today. The 20th century brought further hardship: during the Spanish Civil War, the building suffered attacks, and fires destroyed valuable documents and images that had been kept inside.

The church follows a Latin-cross floor plan, with its own bell tower and side chapels. It served as Xirivella's only parish until 1953, when the growing town finally gained additional churches. Today the building is protected as a site of local heritage interest.

What should visitors know before stopping by?

The chapel sits right in the center of Xirivella, a town only a few kilometers from downtown Valencia — an easy half-day detour for anyone staying in the regional capital. For locals, the site still carries real spiritual weight: devotion to Our Lady of Good Health continues to be marked here, and the building functions as an active place of worship rather than a purely historical attraction.

Opening hours and visiting arrangements can shift with the season and the parish's own schedule of services, so it's worth checking locally or with the parish itself before planning a visit.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where exactly is the chapel located? In Xirivella, a town in the province of Valencia, immediately adjacent to the city of Valencia.

Why is it called the Chapel of Our Lady of Good Health? The name comes from a local tradition about a Marian statue found buried under a tree along with a bell; a chapel was built on that exact spot in 1604 to commemorate the discovery.

Is this the oldest church in Xirivella? Christian presence on the site goes back to the 13th century, when the Order of Calatrava built the first church here. The structure standing today, however, dates from the rebuilding that followed a late-17th-century flood.

Is the chapel still used for worship? Yes. It has been a center of Marian devotion for centuries and remains an active place of worship, not just a heritage site open to visitors.