Las Tercias was once the grain store and the testamentary foundation of Don Gómez Manrique, Knight of the Renaissance. It was built in the second half of the sixteenth century and has more modern private houses attached to one side. It communicates underground with the castle through a passage excavated in the 1960s by the master builder Antonio Cantero.
The chapel has an eighteenth-century Baroque-style portal. At the foot of the hermitage, we can see a high choir, while the central altarpiece is from the nineteenth century, in Neoclassical style, and has the figure of Jesús Nazareno framed in its centre.
The church demonstrates a clear stylistic succession ranging from the late-Gothic to the exuberantly Baroque. In the presbytery is the altarpiece, composed of a single body with three streets and topped with a tympanum in the attic.
Built in 1928, the Miguel de Cervantes School is rectangular in layout, clad in exposed brick and has two recesses and twenty-four classrooms. Cervantes was in Lopera between February 22 and 25, 1592, in order to collect wheat and barley for the Invincible Armada.
The Baroque-style chapel dates from the sixteenth century. In 1582, when the town suffered a plague epidemic, the Cabildo, meeting with the Priesthood, decided to pray to the Saint to extinguish the disease.
The Casa del Pueblo or Centro Obrero is a public building that gained prominence in the early years of the twentieth century and developed into a real institution, not least as a social space for workers. It was inaugurated in August 1919 and almost entirely destroyed in the Spanish Civil War.
The watering pillar of Pilar Nuevo dates from 1875, surrounded by an extensive wooded area with large parking areas for visitors. The enclosure is crowned by the contemporary chapel of San Isidro Labrador. Located less than 1km from Lopera, in Pilar Nuevo.
In Lopera we find one of the best examples of thirteenth-century castles built by the Military Order of Calatrava in the province of Jaén. Thanks to restoration work, the Castle of Lopera has recovered its original appearance, and the deterioration caused by time has been avoided in a fortress.
The tourist office of Lopera is located in the town hall, opening from Monday to Friday.
Festivals in Lopera: Cabalgata Reyes Magos, La Candelaria, Día de Andalucía, Carnaval, Semana Santa, Fiesta a la Virgen de la Cabeza, Los Mayos, Romería de San Isidro and more.
Lopera has its origins in the Bronze Age, with remains from this period having been found in the farmhouses of Almazán, Lanzarino I and Cuatro Hermanas. From the Iron Age period, remains of Iberian culture stand out, such as the deposits of Cerro de la Casa, Cerro de los Pollos and Cerro de San Cristóbal.
Lopera has gained international fame due its distinct shipyard which is situated amongst olive groves. The shipyard has produced winning vessels of important nautical competitions. The town has about 3,650 inhabitants.