Monastery in Antequera
Also known as Convento de Madre de Dios
FreeCosts nothing to visit.
The Convent of Madre de Dios is an enclosed convent in central Antequera that turns up on the local “Mysteries and Legends” walks. Visiting costs nothing, and the budget-traveler reason to stop is the torno: a wooden turnstile window the cloistered nuns use to sell their homemade convent sweets without leaving enclosure, a centuries-old Andalusian custom you can still take part in for the price of a small box. It sits a short walk from Plaza Coso Viejo, the Palacio de Najera museum, and the Collegiate Church of Santa Maria la Mayor, so it folds neatly into a free or near-free afternoon in the old town.
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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.
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.
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The whole of Antequera