HISTORY OF SANTA CRUZ DE MARCHENA
Santa Cruz de Marchena originated in the Al-Andalus period. It was known as Haratalgima, which translates as “mosque district”, due to the location of the high mosque. Together with Bolodu, it made up the Area of Alboloduy. With the Christian conquest, it was one of the first mosques to turn to the Christian faith with the name of Santa Cruz (Holy Cross).
During the eighth century, a hamlet was created on this site by Yemenite soldiers from the Quda tribe, and during the later Nazari period it belonged to the Area of Alboloduy. With the Christian conquest, the Catholic Monarchs gave the Area of Alboloduy to Boabdil. In 1493, he went to Africa permanently and in 1504 it passed to Don Sancho de Castilla y Enriquez. The heirs of Don Sancho de Castilla y Enriquez changed the name of Haratalgima to that of Santa Cruz.
In the sixteenth century, there was a dispute over municipal boundaries with the neighbouring Area of Marchena – this is where the current name of Santa Cruz de Marchena comes from. With the Moorish Rebellion in 1568 and their expulsion from the Kingdom of Granada in 1570, Santa Cruz was left deserted and its land abandoned. The repopulation was carried out in 1573 with people from western Andalusia, Extremadura and Levante.
During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, there was a slow demographic recovery. It obtained its independence as a municipality in 1850. In the second half of the nineteenth century and up to 1910 there was a significant demographic increase due to the cultivation and shipment of the Ohanes grape. From then until the present, there has been a gradual decrease in number of inhabitants. Today, the village’s main crops are oranges and fruit trees.