Sanlúcar la Mayor

Sanlúcar la Mayor grew from a small Muslim farming settlement — an alquería — in the Aljarafe region, where the main crops were fig trees, olive groves, and market gardens. The settlement was known as "Saluqar" and centred on its mosque, enclosed within a walled perimeter of no more than two hectares. The southwest side was protected by a natural ravine; the northwest required stronger defences.

When Christian forces moved to take Seville, the task of subduing the Aljarafe was given to Pelayo Pérez Correa of the Order of Santiago. The conquest was brutal, and many of the old alquerías were destroyed or abandoned. After Seville fell, the town was offered as a residence to Muslim leaders but the offer was refused, and Christian life gradually took over.

By 1534, Sanlúcar la Mayor had 628 inhabitants — the largest population of any settlement in the Aljarafe comarca. That century was its high point, when the town prospered as a defensive stronghold against Arab raids and as a staging point on the royal road to Portugal.

Sanlúcar la Mayor has three churches, all within or near the old walled enclosure.

The oldest stands inside the Almohad walls in the area known as La Cárcaba. It was built directly on top of the former mosque, reorienting the main doors to suit Christian liturgy. Three naves are divided by pillars carrying pointed arches, and the main façade has a lobed arch at its centre. The bell tower is the most unusual feature: it stands apart from the church body, in the old mosque's open courtyard — the only minaret of its kind surviving in the province. Inside, fragments of Mudéjar plasterwork remain. The raised presbytery sits above a barrel vault that once gave access to streets within the walled enclosure. The space beside the church, formerly a cemetery, is now an open courtyard used for summer evening concerts.

The second church occupies the highest point of the old town and was built over an earlier Roman temple. It has three naves with horseshoe arches resting on pillars and paired columns, a Gothic ribbed vault over the chancel, and a tower that was partially rebuilt in 1772 after earthquake damage. The tower retains its original internal ramp rather than stairs. The sacristy holds a treasury of goldwork in various styles and metals.

The third church, the only one currently in regular use, is a Mudéjar building at the top of the historic centre, also raised over a Roman temple. Its baroque high altarpiece and a rococo side altar with images of the Virgen de los Remedios and the Cristo de la Salud reflect additions made across several centuries.

Other notable buildings include a medieval alquería — built by the Arabs, later held by various Castilian nobles and the Order of Santiago, and said to have been a resting place for Alfonso X — which most recently housed a five-star luxury hotel with a restaurant by Ferran Adrià, though it is currently closed to the public. The Cilla del Cabildo, a civil building, was the storage house for the ecclesiastical tithe, divided into three naves for the local parishes and a fourth for the cathedral chapter. The town hall staircase is presided over by a painting called La Concepción by the Sevillian artist Francisco Meneses Osorio.