Arahal – Parish Church of Santa Maria Magdalena

Parish Church of Santa Maria Magdalena

The Parish Church of Santa Maria Magdalena is located in the Nuestro Padre Jesus Nazareno Square, opposite to the House of the Marqueses of la Peña de los Enamorados, in the locality of Arahal.

Built in 1800 by architect Lucas Cintora on the site of an old Mudejar church destroyed by the Lisbon earthquake in 1755 whose tower and tabernacle still remain.

It’s a neoclassical building which consist of three naves, a transept and choir behind the presbytery. It’s notable for being the largest and most coherent work in this style remaining in the province of Seville. The tower is formed by three sections and a pyramid-shaped spire. The first two sections are square in shape and the last is octagonal. The main altar, a semi-circular shrine, is dominated by a carving of St. Mary Magdalene, patron saint of the town. The parish archive is important too as some of its books date from 1528.

Location

Dirección: C/ Misericordia, 2
CP: 41600
Localidad: Arahal
Teléfono: 955 84 10 33
Coordenadas GPS: -5.543152239, 37.2634381

Arahal History

The place name Arahal seems to derive from the Arabic Ar-rahal, it is a term referring to the place on the road where to stop to rest, the space where the cattle are kept. Herd or majada are synonyms in Andalusia and Extremadura of arrahal or real –remember the expression “the real of the cattle fair”–. In Levante it also alludes to the farm and even to the farmhouse. This generic name, after the Christian conquest, appears already documented as a toponym, and shortly after this well-known place is donated by Sancho IV to the order of Alcántara, as part of the term of Morón in 1285.

The population is located on a gentle hill in the form of a plateau on whose top, with an extensive plain, sits the historic center, although the current town expands along the surrounding slopes and valleys. The soil is clayey with areas of calcareous concretion and in its term you can find the most productive land in the area, both in the production of cereals, sunflower, cotton and table olives. It currently has around 20,000 inhabitants who work in a balanced way in the three basic sectors of production.

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