The Church of Santa María

The oldest part of this building is the Patio de los Naranjos attached to the left wall, as it could have been part of the ablutions courtyard of the Almohad mosque that existed previously (demolished in 1424 to build the church). This courtyard has a colonnaded gallery on two of its sides, with marble or granite columns as supports. In turn, these columns have cimacios as a finish. One of them preserves a Visigothic inscription, being reused in the Muslim period. The north gallery features seven arches with the central one being larger and higher; while the lateral ones are pointed horseshoe arches. The arches of the East gallery are also higher and all framed with an alfiz. It is deduced that, although these arches were from the Islamic period, they were remodelled during the Christian construction of the 15th century.

From the same period dates the Chapel of the Apostles on the North side of the church. Its roof is an octagonal vault supported on squinches at its angles. The east wall facade presents on its exterior a simple pointed archivolt, framed by an alfiz and topped with a cornice of scroll modillions.
 

The Gothic church has a hall plan, embedding the transept within. It has three naves divided into five sections. The apse is flat, presenting two sections. In the side naves, chapels are attached between the buttresses. It has three access portals. The one located at the west was made in the 19th century in neo-Gothic style. The side portal was the work of Antonio Chamorro, with lines by Antonio de Figueroa y Ruiz in 1775. The one that opens onto the Patio de los Naranjos, the one on the left side, is not finished but is also from the 18th century.

The naves are separated by pointed arches supported on polygonal or almost circular pillars; depending on their location, either near the west or the apse of the church. The almost circular section pillars have many shafts of different thickness and height. Light penetrates through the stained glass of the pointed Gothic windows of the second body of the central nave. 
 

The decoration contrasts between the ribbed vaults of the three naves, as the ones in the west zone of the temple are sextipartite and those at the apse zone are star-shaped. The dome is located in the centre of the transept, specifically in the fourth section of the central nave. It is higher in height than the entire set of vaults covering the central nave. Its complex ribs and its pointed openings with stained glass accentuate the chiaroscuro in the network of nerves. In the keystones and walls on which the dome rests, it is decorated with saints, angels and mythological characters.
 

The side chapels are also covered with star-shaped Gothic ribbed vaults. Other chapels are covered with crossed ribs forming coffers, showing a clear transition to the Renaissance. This type of roof is also found in the sacristy.
 

According to the sense of a clock, from the rear of the Gospel nave, the side chapels are in the following order: Baptismal chapel, Tabernacle Chapel, access door from the Patio de los Naranjos, the Chapel of the Christ of Miracles and the Chapel of the Virgin of Grace, whose plan is eight-sided and covered with a dome topped with a lantern. The main chapel is at the apse of the central nave, followed by the main sacristy in the Epistle nave. They are followed by the Chapel of the Virgin of Antigua, which joins the Calvary Chapel. Next, are the chapels of San José, the access door to the Epistle nave, the Chapel of the Virgin of the Rosary, the Virgin of Peace and the of the Incarnation (also known as the Chapel of the Barreda).
 

In the penultimate section of the central nave is the choir. Its walls feature elements from the Renaissance and Mannerist period. The crujía or sacra way connects the choir with the presbytery.
 

At the rear of the church is the tower, between the Patio de los Naranjos and the Baptismal Chapel on the Gospel side. It is divided into four sections, with the first three being rectangular and the fourth being square. The first section looks solid with no openings, topped with an entablature, on which rests a parapet with corner pillars and pyramidal finishes. The second section is smaller but has five semi-circular openings, framed with an alfiz and tiles in the spandrels. Three openings face the Patio de los Naranjos, two on the opposite side, and one facing the church. The third section is surrounded by an openwork parapet with rhomboid shapes, similar to the one in the first section. A rectangular structure houses a lintelled opening with the clock face flanked by paired pilasters on the long side and simple pilasters on the short one. On these pilasters rests the entablature that acts as a support for the fourth section. This last section, square, rises with semi-circular arches slightly raised on each of its sides. These arches are flanked by pilasters decorated with tiles. As a finish, it has a pyramidal spire with blue and white tiles.