Fortress in Antequera
Also known as Alcazaba de Antequera
Partly free, partly paidSome of it costs nothing, some of it charges.
The Alcazaba of Antequera is the Moorish fortress crowning the oldest part of Antequera, and the climb is the main event. The Torre del Homenaje, the keep, opens up a wide view over the rooftops, the plain, and the tilted bulk of Pena de los Enamorados to the east. It shares its hilltop with the Arco de los Gigantes and the Renaissance Collegiate Church of Santa Maria la Mayor, so one walk up covers all three.
Here is the budget breakdown. The fortified enclosure and towers charge a small entry, normally sold as a combined ticket with the church next door, so buy the bundle once instead of paying twice. But you do not have to pay at all to enjoy the hill: the walk up, the open esplanade, and the panorama from the nearby Mirador de las Almenillas are free. Take in the fortress from outside and the view for nothing, then decide if the towers are worth the ticket. Add the Roman Baths of Antequera down in the streets and the free UNESCO dolmens, Dolmen de Menga and Dolmen de Viera, and you have a full day in town that stays mostly free.
Practical
Nearby
Other places worth the walk, and what each one costs.
Renaissance triumphal arch built in the 1580s as the monumental gateway into Antequera's upper town, deliberately built with Roman inscriptions and carved stones gathered from the area. Free to walk through, and it frames the classic view back over the rooftops toward the Pena de los Enamorados.
Former Carmelite church in the upper town of Antequera, known for an extraordinary gilded Churrigueresque main altarpiece that fills the entire east wall.
The sanctuary of the Virgen de los Remedios, patron saint of Antequera, sits right on Calle Infante Don Fernando, the town's main pedestrian street, so it costs nothing to step inside on a walk through the centre.
Mannerist parish church in the Antequera old town, free to step into and a regular stop on the town's Palaces and Churches walking route. One of the dense cluster of religious buildings that earned Antequera its nickname, the Florence of Andalusia, alongside neighbours like the Church of Los Remedios and the Convent of Madre de Dios.
Church on the central Plaza de San Sebastian in Antequera, best known for the brick bell tower topped by the Angelote, a winged-angel weathervane that has become an informal symbol of the town and is visible from across the centre.
Renaissance collegiate church on the Alcazaba hill in Antequera, notable for a columned interior that reads more like a classical basilica than a typical Andalusian church.
Working out what Antequera costs?
The whole of Antequera