Santa Cruz de Marchena Travel Guide

Its origin is from the time of Al-Andalus, when it was part of the old Haratalgima or neighbourhood of the mosque. This was where the mosque was located and it was part of the Taha of Alboloduy. After the Christian conquest, the Catholic Monarchs ceded the Taha of Alboloduy to Don Sancho de Castilla y Enriquez. His heirs subsequently changed the name of Haratalgima to that of Santa Cruz.

During the 17th and 18th centuries, this town gradually recovered its population after the expulsion of the Moorish. In 1850, it obtained its full jurisdiction as a municipality and could elect a councillor.

As with most towns of the Alpujarra Almeriense, in the second half of the 19th century, it enjoyed the boom of the Ohanes grape trade and, in turn, a demographic increase. The beginning of the 20th century was marked by world wars, the Spanish Civil War and a great drought. This caused international prices for shipping grapes to collapse and a depopulation began that lasts to this day. At present, citrus fruits are grown, predominantly oranges, as well as vegetables and other fruit trees.

In its urban core stands the Saint Mary Parish Church, which was an old Islamic mosque, as well as other religious and civil monuments of great interest to the visitor. The most important geographical feature of the area is the Nacimiento river, which was known as the Alboloduy River until the second half of the 18th century, when it changed its name to the Nacimiento river.