Not far from the famous Santa Barbara Castle in Alicante is the church of the Virgin Mary, which is one of the oldest and most important churches in the city. Traditionally, at that time the church was built on the site of the destroyed mosque. The time of its construction belongs to the 15-16 centuries. The church was built as a symbol of the victory of the Spaniards over the Moors, and liberation from Muslim rule. The original church was built in the Gothic style, but later the main altar of the church and the beautiful portal with images of the Virgin were rebuilt in the Baroque style.

Directly next to the church on the square of the same name of the Virgin Mary is the famous City Museum of Contemporary Art, which is considered one of the most important cultural sites in Alicante .  Here assembled an amazing collection of art of the 20th century, represented in painting, sculpture, graphics .  The basis of the collection was donated to the museum once the great Spanish sculptor, painter and graphic artist Eusebio Sempere .  The museum presents 177 works of the greatest artists of the 20th century, as Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali, Joan Miro, Wassily Kandinsky, Marc Chagall and others .  In addition, the museum has a collection of works of Eusebio Sempere, which was bought by the city municipality after the death of the artist in 1996 .  The collection includes 101 works of the great masters and includes works of the early period, represented by drawings in watercolor and oil paintings as well as sculptures from the late chrome-plated steel, created by the artist in the 70 years of the 20th century .