Marchena - Santa María de la Mota

Around the 6th century BC, the Carthaginians ruled here. Later Marchena fell into the Roman province of Hispania Ulterior.

As the Roman Empire declined the Vandals, the Alans, and the Suebi entered Spain Hispania Baetica fell to the Vandals first, then Visigoths ruled Baetica from 497 to 711. Then the Visigoth Kingdom gave way to Muslim invaders from North Africa. Iberia became part of the greater Umayyad Caliphate under Abd al-Rahman I.

By the 12th century, Marchena was a medina (township) with a strong fortress. It was part of the Almohad Caliphate until 1247 when the Christian forces of Ferdinand III of Castile took Marchena before laying Siege to Seville.

Today Machena is a town with s population of about 20.000.

Santa María de la Mota is located on the site of the former Moorish fortress, in an area separated from the city and surrounded by a wall. This later became the ducal palace. It was built around 1356 in the Gothic-Mudejar style on the site of a previous mosque. The bell tower dates from 1580. From 1623, the rooms of the palace adjacent to the church became a Poor Clare monastery, which still exists today.