What to see

Écija is home to many PALACES, such as PEÑAFLOR PALACE (16th-18th century), boasting an impressive façade decorated with fresco paintings; BENAMEJÍ PALACE, site of the town’s history museum, which exhibits important archaeological artefacts, such as the Wounded Amazon and Roman mosaics; VALDEHERMOSO PALACE, with a 16th-century plateresque portal, SANTAELLA PALACE and PALMA HISTORIC MUSEUM HOUSE, with 19th-century furniture and wonderful Mudejar coffered ceilings with interlace patterns.

The town is also home to some wonderful examples of religious architecture, including the 15th-century Gothic-Mudejar SANTIAGO CHURCH, SANTA CRUZ CHURCH, LA CONCEPCIÓN CHURCH, locally known as ‘EL HOSPITALITO’, with its admirable 16th-century coffered ceiling with interlace patterns, SANTA MARÍA CHURCH, erected during the transition between Baroque and Neo classical styles and home to an important archaeological collection; the LOS DESCALZOS CHURCH, an Andalusian Baroque treasure, and SAN JUAN CHURCH, whose Baroque tower is one of the most emblematic in the town.

The archeological site PLAZA DE ARMAS, ALCARZAR IN ECIJA has an incalculable historical value because of turdetani, roman and islamic remains founded.

TOURS AND RELATED ACTIVITIES

Palacio de Valdehermoso

Valdehermoso palace is very close to Peñaflor palace. The important plateresque portal corresponds to the sixteenth-century Cordoban Renaissance. It stands in the corner of the spacious façade, above which sit robust viewing balconies supported by granite column shafts from the Roman era. Its façade is extraordinary and visitors are recommended to take a moment to admire it. The palace is a private property and is not open to the public.

C/ Emilio Castelar, 37,Écija

Palacio de Valdehermoso

Heritage Visits and Activities

Peñaflor Palace

The palace was built between 1700 and 1775. It was granted “Historical and Artistic Monument” status in 1962 and is protected as a “Site of Cultural Interest”. The Peñaflor family resided at the palace until 1958. The decoration on the staircase that leads to the upper floor is noteworthy for its artistic interest: it forms part of Cristóbal Portillo’s decorative programme, produced at the end of the eighteenth century. The Peñaflor Viewpoint forms part of the Peñaflor palace’s façade and is located on the corner of Calle Mas y Prat. It dates back to the eighteenth century and consists of a ground-level arcade with two- or three-storey open galleries; its arcades, propped up by supports, characteristic of the era, feature typical canopies that make use of the balconies’ projections. It is decorated with polychrome of the same era, which contributes to the building’s grandeur. It is currently not open to the public.

C/ Emilio Castelar, 26,Écija

Peñaflor Palace

Heritage Visits and Activities

Benamejí Palace – Town History Museum

Benamejí Palace is a “National Monument” that has received “Site of Cultural Interest” status. Construction began at the beginning of the eighteenth century and it is considered a prime example of civil architecture from the Spanish Baroque and one of the treasures from Écija’s golden age. The vast brick façade has a stone base and a row of balconies on the first floor. It boasts two large towers on either end, which provide the monument with a certain degree of height; the impressive portal interrupts the building’s sobriety and monotony. The palace originally belonged to the marquises of Benamejí but later housed a military riding centre, and has been the Town’s History Museum since 1997. The museum exhibits several archaeological remains, including an interesting collection of prehistoric metal pieces, three warrior stelae, the “Pieza de Écija” (a unique piece of gold work from the Tartessian era), wonderful Roman mosaics and exceptional sculptures, such as the “Wounded Amazon”, and interesting collections of inscriptions, capitals, mosaics and domestic tools from the Roman and Islamic eras. Visitors are also welcome to explore the eighteenth-century Benamejí Palace stables, which house the Visual Ecuestre visitor centre: a wonderful 270° light and sound show on the world of […]

C/ Cánovas del Castillo, Écija

Benamejí Palace – Town History Museum

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Santaella Palace

Santaella Palace has a stone-carved portal, which displays unique ornamental caryatids, adding character. The building is dated to the first third of the eighteenth century. The staircase is covered with a monumental dome resting on a tholobate with polychromed yesería plasterwork, which is decorated with floral adornment and landscapes, dating to the second half of the eighteenth century, which is very similar to the Peñaflor Palace façade and likely to be from the same studio. The palace’s woodwork is extremely impressive, with magnificent carved doors.

C/ Ignacio de Soto ,Écija

Santaella Palace

Heritage Visits and Activities

Los Pareja Palace House

Los Pareja Palace House has a white façade and a slender viewing tower on the corner. It consists of semi-circular arches and is covered by a gabled roof. The stone-carved portal is late eighteenth-century Baroque. The dynamic cornice is raised at the centre to display the Pareja family coat of arms. The building’s vault ceiling over the staircase and the quadrangular courtyard surrounded by a double arcade of semi-circular arches are both impressive. The building houses the Tomás Beviá Public Library, which is connected to the Historical Archive via a courtyard. The town’s historical archive is located on Calle Cintería.

C/ Santa Maria, s/n.,Écija

Los Pareja Palace House

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Palma Historic House Museum

Palma Historic House Museum is situated on the site of a former Dominican convent. The palace entrance opens onto the mounting block, where the stables are to the left and the two-storey central courtyard to the right, formed of semi-circular arches and marble columns. This courtyard leads to the orange-tree courtyard, with a stone fountain and the old convent font, which according to ancient legend, connects to a passage that leads to the river Genil. The palace’s décor and furniture originate from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, with sixteenth-century artesonado ceilings and Mudejar flooring in the halls and bedrooms.

C/ Espíritu Santo, 10 ,Écija

Palma Historic House Museum

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Palace of Justice Courthouse

This building is also locally known as Las Tomasas Palace, as it belonged to two sisters who were nicknamed such. It boasts exuberant “historicist” décor, based on the Alhambra’s decorative elements. The entrance hall displays tiles from the Triana neighbourhood in Seville. The artesonado ceilings in the main courtyard and the staircase are also noteworthy.

C/ La Marquesa, 15,Écija

Palace of Justice Courthouse

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Ancient town wall ruins

Several sections of Écija’s medieval wall have been preserved and some of its gateways can be recognised. Of the fourteen gateways documented, four originate from the Roman layout, and therefore connect the two main roads in the town. The first road goes from east to west, from the Puerta del Puente gateway to the Puerta Cerrada gateway. It is extremely interesting given the variety of historic sites and picture-perfect spots found along its length. The Torre del Carmen tower, a stretch of wall, La Cárcel and Ciudad Real buildings, the ancient inn and stone fountain can be observed along this road and provide an evocative setting: the sound of water from the fountain, the breeze and shade from the trees and impressive buildings. The second road stretches from north to south of the town, from the Puerta de Palma gateway to the Puerta de Osuna gateway. Its location is historically interesting, given the Moorish wall ruins. This stretch once provided access to the Moorish fortified town, known as Bab Usuna. The rest of the gateways documented originated in the Almohad era, and others were later than the Christian era. Several stretches of wall have also been preserved, the most emblematic are in Calle Alcázar, Cavilla, […]

puerta cerrada Écija, españa

Ancient town wall ruins

Heritage Visits and Activities

Plaza de España. El Salón

The Plaza de España is locally known as “EL SALÓN”, which means “living room. This square is located in Écija’s historic centre. It is renowned for the beautiful buildings that surround it, such as the neoclassical Town Hall, Peñaflor and Benamejí viewpoint balconies and the magnificent Franciscan church’s portal. This collection of buildings, alongside the country houses and winding streets that surround the square make it an exceptionally beautiful townscape.

Plaza de España,Écija

Plaza de España. El Salón

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Casa del Gremio de la Seda (Silk Association Headquarters)

This building dates back to the eighteenth century. It once belonged to the silk association and its architectural and decorative features are proof of the importance that the silk trade once had in Écija. The upper floor structure is similar to that of the town’s viewing balconies. The building was recently restored and the façade was returned to its original colour.

C/ Mas y Prat,Écija

Casa del Gremio de la Seda (Silk Association Headquarters)

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Nuestra Señora del Carmen Church

Nuestra Señora del Carmen church was founded in the fifteenth century. Extremely important works were executed during the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries, and the tower was erected in 1637. A highly valuable, eighteenth-century glass case with tortoiseshell and silver overlay is on display in the Santo Sepulcro chapel. The main altarpiece is decorated with rocaille-covered columns and estipites. A sculpture of Our Lady of Mount Carmel is displayed in the central niche; her robe adorned with the same motifs as the retablo. Sculptures of Saint Theresa, Saint Mary Magdalene de’Pazzi, Saint Elisha and Saint Albert of Trapani are in the side aisles. The church also houses a considerable collection of paintings.

C/ El Carmen, s/n,Écija

Nuestra Señora del Carmen Church

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San Felipe Neri Church

The church consists of one single nave with a Latin cross plan. The façade is neoclassical and the nave features barrel vaults and lunettes, and a hemispherical ceiling over the crossing with the Patron saints’ emblems on the pendentives. The main altarpiece is modern and is dominated by the Corazón de Jesús sculpture. A small, early seventeenth-century sculpture of the Immaculate Conception from the Montañés studio stands to the right and a sculpture of Saint John of Nepomuk to the left. A painting of Saint Philip Neri can be observed in the attic of the retablo.

Calle del Arcipreste Aparicio, 2

San Felipe Neri Church

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Ntra. Sra. de la Victoria Church

Nuestra Señora de la Victoria church was founded in 1506 over the site of San Martín chapel, which originally belonged to the Minim Congregation. It was the fourth convent that the order founded in Spain. It has a Greek cross floor plan and has two carved marble Baroque portals, a vault covered in eighteenth-century yeseria, and a grand, three-sectioned, exposed brick tower, which appears to be connected to Málaga’s Baroque style. The early eighteenth-century main altarpiece exhibits a collection of paintings of the same period, which depict the Immaculate Conception, the Imposition of the Chasuble on Saint Ildefonsus, Saint Michael, Saint Joseph, Saint Anthony of Padua and Saint Blaise. The central niche features the mid-sixteenth century Jesus Christ of the Gonfalon sculpture; the Our Lady of the Victoria sculpture appears in the attic. The marquises of Peñaflor’s tombs can also be found inside the church. The brick tower was erected between 1754 and 1757. It differs from other Baroque towers in Écija, as the shaft is decorated. The Cristo de Confalón brotherhood has an agreement with the church to use it as its base and is committed to displaying its sculptures for worship.

C/ de la Victoria,Écija

Ntra. Sra. de la Victoria Church

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Santa Ana Church

The church has a rectangular floor plan, comprising one single nave with side chapels with towering tribunes between the buttresses and a crossing. A groin vault covers the nave and a hemispherical vault over the crossing. Although sited over former constructions, the current church back dates to the second third of the eighteenth century. The tower was also erected during this period by Third Order Franciscans. It is located to the right of the apse and is decorated with tiles and carved brick. The main altarpiece is neoclassical in style and features sculptures of Saint Dominic and Saint Francis; the Eternal Father is displayed in the attic. A late eighteenth-century sculpture ensemble of Saint Anne with the Virgin Mary appears in the central niche. The primitive tower was built in 1641 over a turret that formed part of the Puerta Real gateway’s wall. After the 1755 earthquake, many construction works were undertaken and a new tower was erected. The Santa Ana tower is the smallest in Écija, but is uniquely decorated with carved brickwork, tiles and rendering. The church underwent drastic renovation during the eighteenth century. The Cristo de la Yedra confraternity currently uses the church as its headquarters. The […]

c/ Emilio Castelar, 62,Écija

Santa Ana Church

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Santo Domingo Church

The church was founded between 1353 and 1383 and belonged to Saint Dominic’s Order of Preachers until its expulsion. The church subsequently adopted ordinary jurisdiction and the Order returned and took possession of the church in around 1970, but was compelled to close for worship years later. Since 2004, the church and adjoining outbuildings were ceded to the Workers of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ congregation. This convent was extremely popular among the town’s noblemen. The church is renowned for its beautiful Baroque portal, decorated with tiles that perfectly introduce the exceptional, architecturally sound colouristic atrium. The tower —left unfinished by the Dominicans— is neoclassical and consists of only one section. The church has a rectangular floor plan, three naves and a crossing. The central nave is covered by a wonderful, traditional Mudejar artesonado ceiling associated with Diego López de Arenas circa 1600. The Virgen del Rosario chapel was erected in the mid-eighteenth century, and was inaugurated in 1761, the same year that the tower was constructed. The main altarpiece was created in 1717 and gilded in 1724. A sculpture of Our Lady of Peace appears in the central panel and the side panels display Dominican Saints of the same […]

Plaza de Santo Domingo ,Écija

Santo Domingo Church

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Santa Bárbara Church

Santa Bárbara church was originally the site of a Roman temple, upon which a Mudejar temple was constructed. Some elements from the latter construction can still be observed. It was the first church to adopt the neoclassical style in Andalusia and was designed by the Cordoban architect Ignacio Tomás. Making use of the Roman granite column shafts, he erected the original portals, which represent an unusual and rare classicism, uncommon in this area. The tower dates back to the fifteenth century and was erected over an ancient Moorish keep. It adjoins to the foot of the nave’s Gospel side next to the main façade and has remarkable brickwork. The square tower shaft houses a chapel.

Plaza de España, 20 ,Écija

Santa Bárbara Church

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La Concepción Church: “El Hospitalito”

The church was founded in 1592 and belonged to the hospital of the same dedication. The church has a single nave with a choir screen at the foot of the church. It has a Renaissance-style façade and the central part features a niche that displays a stone sculpture of the Virgin Mary. The retablo belongs to the seventeenth century; the Solomonic columns are its most predominant element. The main altar is dedicated to the Immaculate Conception, which was sculpted at the beginning of the century. The devotional Jesus Christ of the Greatest Pain sculpture by Lorenzo Cano stands next to the altar. Several paintings are displayed in the side retablos, among which, Saint John of Nepomuk and the Vision of Saint Anthony of Padua are both noteworthy and date to the second third of the eighteenth century. The choir stands at the foot of the nave and is decorated with yeseria from the first quarter of the seventeenth century. The eighteenth-century red and black jasper pulpit is also in this section.

C/ del Conde, 31,Écija

La Concepción Church: “El Hospitalito”

Heritage Visits and Activities

Santa cruz Church and Sacred Art Museum

Santa Cruz church was built between 1776 and 1836 over the site of previous constructions, from which Visigoth capitals and a blind arch with Arabesque yeseria and a Mudejar emblem are preserved. The current church consists of three naves, each with five sections, and houses interesting Baroque pieces. The eighteenth-century main altarpiece came from the La Concepción de los Mercedarios convent. It is dedicated to Our Lady of the Valley, a circa-1575 sculpture from the Jerónimo Hernández circle. It features an interesting fifth-century paleo-Christian sarcophagus with biblical scenes carved in stone. The church also houses the town’s Sacred Art Museum, which exhibits an extensive collection of eighteenth-century silver- and goldsmithery, including osculatories, panels, float frames, lecterns, altar cards, paintings, sculptures, furniture, ornamental picture frames, holy water vessels, and bells. The most interesting items are an outstanding Nanban “Shokendai” lectern, which was made in 1573 in Japan during the Momoyama Period, and a gilded silver monstrance by Francisco de Alfaro Hernández in 1586 (Seville). The tower is Renaissance in style. Visitors can admire an impressive view from its bell tower and take in the town’s other numerous towers and steeples. The Mudejar Arch that stands in the church entrance is from Alfonso X’s reconquest in […]

iglesia de santa cruz, écija

Santa cruz Church and Sacred Art Museum

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San Francisco Church

San Francisco church is neoclassical and consists of three naves with a crossing, which preserves Gothic vaults from the time of its foundation, and a square chancel. It was originally a Gothic construction but such elements were masked during the Baroque period reforms. The initial construction stage ended during the last third of the fifteenth century. A series of works were conducted during the first half of the seventeenth century and the church was practically rebuilt in the mid-eighteenth century. The portal that connects the church to Plaza de España belongs to the seventeenth century. The eighteenth-century main altarpiece is considered one of the most important of Écijan Baroque. It consists of large estipites and features sculptures of Franciscan saints, such as Saint Francis de Assis, Saint Anthony of Padua, and a sculpture of Saint Dominic de Guzmán.

Plaza de España, 7,Écija

San Francisco Church

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San Gil Abad parish church is located in the highest part of the town, on a typical Andalusian street, Calle San Antonio, in the San Gil neighbourhood, also known locally as Cerro del Alcázar. It is well suited to its setting, which exudes regional character and essence. Founded in the fifteenth century, in around the same time as Santiago church, San Gil is Écija’s oldest church (1479). Over the centuries, it has undergone several conversions and extensions, until almost the entire building was transformed into Baroque. The building’s general structure is preserved from the original construction: a rectangular floor plan with three naves, each with five sections, separated by pointed arches supported by pillars. The church was remodelled in the third quarter of the eighteenth century, when groin vaults replaced the naves’ primitive wooden roofs. Additional works were also executed at that time: the baptismal and animas chapels were built, the apse remodelled, and the sacristy erected. Between 1727 and 1730, a building of one single nave, consisting of five sections, was transversally erected. The tower, located to the left of the portal on the west end, was built between 1777 and 1782 by Écijan master, Antonio Caballero, in line with […]

C/ San Antonio, s/n,Écija

San Gil Church

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Santiago el Mayor Church

Granted “Site of Cultural Interest” status, this fifteenth-century Gothic-Mudejar church is located a short distance from the Puerta de Osuna gateway. The church is preceded by a trapezoidal, porticoed courtyard. The door that leads to the street sits below a lintel and is flanked by two columns crowned by a curved pediment and a central niche, which were created by architect, Pedro de Silva, in around 1760. The church has a rectangular floor plan, with three naves, separated by vaulting shafts and a polygonal apse. The church’s pièce de résistance is its main altarpiece, where paintings and sculptures harmoniously complement one another. Carvings denote the transition from Gothic to the Renaissance, with reliefs and sculptures from the Jorge Fernández circle and sixteenth-century paintings on panels. The tower, located at the foot of the Gospel side of the nave, was affected by the earthquake of 1st November 1755. It was demolished in 1757, and construction of the new tower began the same year in a different location. It has a raised, brick shaft, from which two balconies open out, with alternating circle and square apertures. Moulding and carved brick capitals, stony decorative elements, painted plasterwork and glazed blue ceramics are combined to […]

Plaza de Santiago, Écija

Santiago el Mayor Church

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San Juan Bautista Church

San Juan Bautista parish church dates back to the sharing out of the lands that were conquered by King Ferdinand III, nicknamed “the Saint”. It is a Gothic-Mudejar church, with three naves covered by wooden framework and a polygonal masonry apse. Successive reforms took place throughout the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, which significantly changed the building’s interior. The tower was built in the second quarter of the eighteenth century. In 1776, the building faced imminent ruin and was demolished in its entirety to create a new floor plan. To this end, the current San Juan Bautista church is what would have been the Sacramental Chapel, which was adjoined to the Epistle nave prior to the renovations. The main altarpiece houses an eighteenth-century Baroque retablo, featuring a seventeenth-century sculpture of the Nazarene. Paintings by Antonio de Pereda (seventeenth century) and Juan de Espinal (eighteenth century) are also noteworthy. The tower comprises three bell sections, built with considerable height. The Baroque elements in the upper sections make the tower the most emblematic and beautiful of those erected during the eighteenth century.

Plaza de San Juan, s/n,Écija

San Juan Bautista Church

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Santa Maria Church and Parish Museum

The ancient Santa María parish church was formerly Gothic-Mudejar in style. It is believed to have been built by Pedro Fernández Gragera, knight at the service of Saint Ferdinand during the reconquest of Écija. According to sources, it was completed in 1262. Structurally, it consists of three naves and a polygonal apse. Two further naves were added later, which lend the church an irregular floor plan. It also boasts a tower, orange-tree courtyard and cemetery. The building underwent important reforms throughout the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The church was demolished in 1758 and a new, neoclassical floor plan constructed. The Sacramental Chapel adjoining the Evangelist nave has one single nave. A mid-eighteenth-century shrine-style retablo is located in the altar, which once served as the parish’s altar of repose. Between 1953 and 1954, Joaquín Ojeda Osuna and Ricardo Comas Fagundo provided the chapel with lavish decoration in the form of frescoes. They reflect a wide array of iconography, including phylacteries and inscriptions, clearly influenced by Sevillan Baroque. The Parish Museum is located in the church’s courtyard. It exhibits a collection of prehistoric, Roman and Arabic remains. One of the most valuable pieces is the marble head of Germanicus, from the Roman […]

Plaza de Santa María s/n,Écija

Santa Maria Church and Parish Museum

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Limpia Concepción Church (Discalced Carmelites)

This church has received “Site of Cultural Interest” status. It has one single nave, a crossing, chapels between buttresses and a flat presbytery wall, behind which is the sacristy. The church was inaugurated in 1614; however, the yeseria plasterwork that covers the interior was included in the eighteenth century. It is magnificently decorated with paintings and murals with polychromed and gilded yeseria and an excellent collection of paintings, sculptures and carpentry, which together with the eighteenth-century organ, make this church an emblem of Écija’s Baroque. Ignacio Tomás created the portal that leads to the atrium, which is preserved from the disestablished Carmelites convent. The main altarpiece was built between 1736 and 1739. It consists of two sections, with five aisles separated by columns and estipites, and an attic, and displays sculptures of Carmelite saints. The main niche opens onto a chamber, which displays an eighteenth-century sculpture of Our Lady of Mount Carmel; the Immaculate Conception appears in the attic and is from the same century. The crossing dome is decorated with exuberant plasterwork mouldings in geometric and plant-derived forms.

C/ La Marquesa, 12,Écija

Limpia Concepción Church (Discalced Carmelites)

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Las Teresas Convent (San José Church)

Las Teresas convent is located in the former Condes de Palma palace, an extremely interesting Mudejar building erected during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. The convent belongs to the Discalced Carmelite nuns, who are known in the town as “Las Teresas”. It was founded in around 1630, when the Discalced Carmelites had to move to the site, which caused serious conflicts with the town’s governors who were accustomed to meeting in the palace. Works on the church were initiated in 1655 thanks to donations and Sister Paula de San José’s dowry. The monumental portal belongs to the transition from Gothic to the Renaissance with light Manueline décor, as can be observed through maritime motifs. The façade’s decoration is uncommon to this area: the Palma counts “imported” it during the fourteenth century, mimicking the style that existed on palace houses in south Portugal, where they also owned land. Some of the palace’s rooms are decorated with interesting fifteenth-century Mudejar yeseria. It is believed that they are works from the same masters who created the ones in the Royal Alcazar of Seville. The church’s entrance door features an interesting piece of Mudejar carpentry from the second half of the fourteenth century, yet […]

C/ Conde, 16,Écija

Las Teresas Convent (San José Church)

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Las Hermanas de la Cruz Convent (Capuchin Convent)

The Sisters of the Holy Cross congregation has served in the convent since 1924. The convent consists of one single nave, a crossing and side chapels. Its construction dates back to the mid-seventeenth century, but it was completely rebuilt during the eighteenth century. The simple portal, which opens at the west end of the nave, belongs to the same period. Paintings that depict the Assumption, Saint Bonaventure, the Immaculate Conception, Saint Michael, Saint Benedict and the Jubilee of the Porziuncola are displayed on the main altarpiece. The title sculpture and the tabernacle are believed to date back to 1786.

C/Sor Ángela de la Cruz, 20,Écija

Las Hermanas de la Cruz Convent (Capuchin Convent)

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La Merced Convent

La Merced Convent was founded in 1509. The church’s pièce de résistance is the shrine dedicated to the title sculpture, Our Lady of Mercy, which was commenced in 1739 and is considered a fine example of Écija’s Baroque.

C/ La Merced, 4,Écija

La Merced Convent

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