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Lucena is renowned for its furniture factories and outlets
Although Lucena appears to be entirely comprised of furniture
factories and outlets, the old town hosts many exquisite churches
reflecting its importance in the Subbetica of Baroque times.
The present day courthouse, the Palacio
de los Condes was an eighteenth century palace, and has
a striking marble entrance, two interior courtyards and impressive
plasterwork.
One of the most important churches in the town is
San Agustin, a seventeenth century convent founded
by the Madres Agustinas. Its most notable feature is its oval layout
and dome, one of the few designed this way in Andalucia. Its altarpiece
is by Francisco Jose Guerrer.
Lucena's main church is that of San Mateo,
a Gothic-Renaissance work from the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries.
The Renaissance altarpiece is by Jeronimo Hernandez and Juan Bautista
Vazquez the Elder. But it's the Capilla del Sagrario which is the
most important part of the church, ranking with the Sagrario de
la Asuncion in Priego as one of the high points of Andalusian baroque.
It was built between 1740 and 1772 and boasts a stunning entrance
of encrusted marble. Laid out in an octagon, it has a central shrine
and exquisitely painted plasterwork.
 Other landmarks are the Palacio de los Condes
de Hust in the old Jewish Quarter, and the Iglesia
y Hospital de San Juan de Dios boasting a splendid marble
entrance and typically Baroque altarpiece and plasterwork. Worth
a visit too is the Santuario de Nuestra Señora de
Araceli, a hermitage whose chapel is considered to be one
of the finest examples of Baroque art in the province. Also the
Castillo del Moral, or former prison of Boabdil-
the tourism office is there now- and the sixteenth century Parroquia
de Santiago built on the site of the former synagogue.
The monuments all vary in their opening hours, so
a visit to the Tourist Office essential. It's situated in the Castillo
del Moral, Tel: 957 5132 82.
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