Church of Santa María del Alcázar in Arjona

Located in the heart of the monumental town of Arjona, the Church of Santa Maria del Alcázar is in a sacred location whose memory is lost in the beginnings of time. Sanctuaries corresponding to the different cultures that have passed through this town throughout its history appear to have been built on this site: from a Roman temple dedicated to Caesar Augustus to the main mosque of the Alcázar de Aryuna. Finally, after the conquest of the town by the troops of Ferdinand III (1244), the building became a church.

At the end of the Middle Ages, this fortress surrounded by buttresses was irrefutable proof of its military character. Later, in the first half of the 16th century, with the assistance of monetary funds arriving from America, it took the definitive form that can be seen today. It has a single nave with short arms, in the form of a crossing, where two chapels open up above the nave. This type of distribution is very much like the Elizabethan Gothic stylistic approach (transition from the 15th to the 16th century).

The current chapel has two entrances, north and west, both with ogival arches. The second doorway, at the foot of the church, preserves a mask representing a Templar Baphomet in the keystone of the arch Since 1843, the church has been the custodian for the images of the patron saints of the town: San Bonoso and San Maximiano. They are the work of Ramón Mateu, originally from Valencia but settled in Jaén, and next to them there is an image of Santa María del Alcázar, a co-patron of the town.