Iglesia de la Puríssima Xiqueta

The Iglesia de la Puríssima Xiqueta, known as the "Cathedral of the Marina Alta," stands in the old town of Benissa. Construction began in 1902 and continued until 1929, funded largely by private donations and the whole town's involvement; it replaced the older Iglesia Fortaleza de San Pedro Apóstol, which had been the village's main church until then.

A large-scale neo-Gothic church

Built in neo-Gothic style with a Latin-cross plan and three naves, the building reaches about 28 metres in height and is flanked by two square, four-storey bell towers, each holding four bells. An octagonal lantern rises above the altar, and the main façade is topped with a rose window between the two towers. Inside, a reliquary holds the image of the Puríssima Xiqueta, painted by Nicolás Borrás, of the school of the Valencian Renaissance painter Joan de Joanes.

During the Spanish Civil War the building was used as a supply store. Today it remains the focus of Benissa's main religious festival, the Baixada de la Puríssima, when the image is lowered from its shrine using the church's original crank mechanism. The church sits a short walk from the Casco Antiguo de Benissa and the Sala del Consell, together forming the monumental core of the village.