Lucena Del Puerto is home to a former monastery, chapels with their own architectural histories, the Cruces de Mayo festival and several trails. For your travel plans, this means you can focus on architectural history, local festivals and landscapes according to your interests, rather than centring your stay on a single attraction. The trails differ in length, route and destination; Pino de la Cruz also has a recreational area with visitor facilities.
Monastery history and chapels
The former Monasterio de Nuestra Señora de la Luz is listed as a monument of Andalusian cultural heritage. The Order of Saint Jerome founded it in the late 15th century as a rural monastery estate comprising religious, residential, agricultural and livestock buildings. The church and refectory are Late Gothic, while some of the cloisters are in the Mudéjar style. Later sections show Renaissance and Baroque influences. The complex therefore brings together several architectural periods rather than a single style.
The chapels also offer concrete points of interest for exploring the town’s history. The Capilla de la Santa Cruz de la Calle Malva was built in 1992 by architect Francisco J. Ramón Girón in the Regionalist style. It houses a cross made in 1956 by the Seville workshops of Manuel Seco Velasco. The Capilla de la Santa Cruz de Arriba has a Regionalist façade with blue-and-white Seville tiles. These depict scenes from the Passion and, in particular, the Stations of the Cross.
Festivals and processions
The Cruces de Mayo festival features four crosses: Calle Castillo, Calle Arriba, Calle Malva and Calle Abajo. On the day of the procession, the Santa Cruz de Arriba is the only one of the four crosses to return to its chapel; this tradition has continued for more than 80 years. El Romerito takes place in June, is dedicated to the Virgen del Rocío and involves the whole town. The pilgrimage procession travels on foot or by cart, alongside the Simpecado, to the Pino de la Cruz natural area. The multi-day patron saint celebrations for the Virgen de la Luz include a procession of the Virgen on 15 August. If you would like to plan your trip around a festival, check the dates for your specific travel dates.
Trails with different features
The linear SL-A 358 Camino de los Cristos recreational trail is 2,645 metres long. It passes through a small hollow of ecological value, with pine trees, holm oaks, myrtle and dwarf fan palms. The SL-A 359 Camino de las Cabezadas is also linear, but is 2,301 metres long. At a fork, you can head back to Lucena Del Puerto or continue on to Bonares.
The SL-A 360 Camino de Río Tinto starts in Lucena Del Puerto and descends on a surfaced dirt track towards the Río Tinto. The route is 1,954 metres long and ends with views of the river. Length, trail type and the fork at Cabezadas offer different points of comparison for planning. The Vereda del Camino del Loro has its own connection to the landscape: it passes through pine woodland and scrub belonging to the Parque Natural de Doñana. Trail conditions can change, so check them before setting out.
Pino de la Cruz and the landscape
The three-kilometre Ruta de los Pinos de la Cruz links the town centre with the Pino de la Cruz recreational area and is not very demanding. The area has picnic tables and benches, barbecue facilities, a children’s play area and fountains. This destination is therefore quite different from the routes whose described features focus mainly on river views, the route itself or the plant life.
Lucena Del Puerto lies on the left bank of the Río Tinto and receives westerly winds as well as breezes from the nearby sea. The river connection is also reflected in the name and endpoint of the Camino de Río Tinto; the Vereda del Camino del Loro, by contrast, passes through pine woodland and scrub in the Parque Natural de Doñana. These different landscape features can help you choose trails and local cultural attractions according to the themes you would like to shape your stay around.
Discover more destinations: Gibraleón, Alájar, Cortelazor, El Álamo, Palos De La Frontera, Jabuguillo, Zalamea La Real, Cartaya
For the broader travel overview: Huelva.
