Royal Collegiate Church of Santa María la Mayor

Antequera's great Renaissance church, on Plaza de Santa María, at the foot of the Alcazaba. Its stone façade looks out over the city from on high, and inside it is a spacious three-aisled church. It is the natural stop after the Alcazaba, which is right next door.

What you will see

It was built between 1514 and 1550, on the initiative of the Bishop of Málaga, Diego Ramírez de Villaescusa, and ashlar blocks from the Roman city of Singilia were reused in its walls. The east end still follows Gothic models, but the rest was finished in a fully developed Renaissance style.

The façade, entirely of ashlar, is the most monumental in Antequera: three bays separated by buttresses, a doorway in each, the central one larger, and above a blind balustrade and some curious fluted conical pinnacles. Inside, the church is no longer used for worship and is almost empty of altarpieces, because it hosts concerts and exhibitions. That lets you see the architecture well: a hall church of three aisles separated by Ionic columns, with five round arches on each side, and a main chapel with a Gothic-Mudéjar rib vault of stars and windows that flood it with light.

The church is adapted for accessibility and offers an audio guide in several languages, also in a version for children.

Opening hours and admission

It has the same opening hours as the Alcazaba: every day from 10:00 to 18:00, and on Tuesdays that are not public holidays from 14:00 to 18:00. It costs €4, €2 for ages 8 to 12 and over 65s, free up to age 7; with the Alcazaba, €8. Allow about 45 minutes, a little more if there is an exhibition.

Getting there and what to combine

You walk up from the centre through the old town, in about ten minutes of uphill climbing, or arrive coming down from the Alcazaba. The streets at the top are narrow: leave the car in one of the car parks in the centre.

Look out over Plaza de Santa María before you go. It is a viewpoint over the Roman baths you can see below, the course of the río de la Villa and the church of El Carmen, and in the middle it has the statue of the Antequera poet Pedro Espinosa. To continue with the city's history, go down to the City Museum, on Plaza del Coso Viejo.