The Great Mosque stood on this site beginning in 1308. Almost immediately after the Catholic Monarchs conquered Granada in 1492, they declared Gran Mezquita be converted into a church. This makeshift step did not suit Philip II of Spain. In 1576, he commissioned master Renaissance architect Juan de Herrera to design a replacement. His plans were rejected. The Church of Santa María de la Alhambra was completed in 1607 using a Mudéjar style drawn by Ambrosio de Vicó. The brick façade is bland compared to its grandiose neighbor, the Palace of Charles V. Among the religious art inside is the Virgin of Anguish holding the crucified Christ. Pieta was completed in 1760 by Torcuato Ruiz del Peral. The sculpture is paraded through Alhambra every Holy Saturday.
