Church in Antequera
Also known as Iglesia de San Sebastian; Real Colegiata de San Sebastian
FreeCosts nothing to visit.
The Church of San Sebastian stands on its own central square in Antequera, and you will probably spot its tower before you reach it. The brick bell tower is topped by a winged-angel weathervane the locals call the Angelote, and it has become an informal symbol of the town, visible from streets all over the centre. The Renaissance church below it is one of the cluster that earned Antequera its nickname, the Florence of Andalusia.
The budget angle is easy here. The plaza in front is free to enjoy and doubles as a meeting point and the starting line for several walking tours, and the church, like Antequera’s other parish churches, is free to step inside. Use it as an anchor for a self-guided church walk that also hits the Church of Los Remedios on the main pedestrian street, the gilded altarpiece at the Church of El Carmen, and the parish Church of San Juan, with Plaza Coso Viejo and the Alcazaba-hill Collegiate Church of Santa Maria la Mayor within walking distance. Antequera sits inland, well off the pricey Costa del Sol, so a town built around landmark towers costs almost nothing to explore on foot.
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Other places worth the walk, and what each one costs.
Moorish hilltop fortress crowning Antequera, with the Torre del Homenaje keep giving commanding views over the town, the vega plain, and the tilted profile of Pena de los Enamorados. It sits in the same precinct as the Arco de los Gigantes and the Collegiate Church of Santa Maria la Mayor, so the whole oldest part of town folds into one climb.
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.
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