CHURCHES AND CONVENTS

The maximum exponent of the religious architecture in Antequera is the Royal Collegiate of Santa María la Mayor, together with the church of San Sebastian, both corresponding to the renaissance period, the same as with San Juan and San Pedro. As well, in the baroque style, there are the church of Carmen, Remedios, Santiago, Madre de Dios, San José (barefoot), Belén and San Juan de Dios.

As already mentioned, during the renaissance and baroque periods, the social and economic development of Antequera reached very high levels. Its character as a "convent city" has contributed to this. Many religious orders have founded convents in which friars or nuns live. Regarding convent buildings, there are the Carmelites, the Minimums, the St. Clares, the Dominicans and the Augustinians. Regarding male monasteries, there are the San Zoilo, founded by the catholic kings in 1550 in gothic style. The church of the Royal monastery (San Francisco) is a national monument. The consistorial palace used to be a convent belonging to the Tercero fathers (17th to 18th century). Another singular building is the Convent of San Agustin, whose largest value aspect is the church, with architectural elements which spans from the 16th to the 18th century.