Marco Topo in Antequera: Alcazaba, Royal Collegiate Church and City Museum

Discover Antequera by playing

Antequera becomes the setting for an exciting educational treasure hunt with Marco Topo, an interactive game that invites families to discover the town’s historical and artistic heritage through play and participation. Designed for families and schools, it proposes two complementary routes through some of the city’s most emblematic places: the Alcazaba and Royal Collegiate Church of Santa María la Mayor, and the Antequera City Museum. These experiences complement the existing routes through the historic centre, El Torcal and the Dolmens Site, expanding the cultural offer for younger visitors. The first route takes players up to the Alcazaba, a Moorish fortress on a high point from which the surrounding territory could be monitored. The route begins at the Arch of the Giants, built in the 16th century at the former entrance to the Muslim medina. Inside the Alcazaba, participants explore the parade ground and an underground dungeon while answering questions about military architecture and medieval communication between watchtowers. The route continues through the Keep, the highest and most symbolic point of the fortress, also known as the Papabellotas Clock Tower, and the Nasrid White Tower, with defensive arrow slits and excellent city views. The challenges reveal archaeological remains such as the former Andalusi mosque, a cistern, Roman tombs beside the reconstructed Torre del Quiebro and defensive structures such as the barbican. From the Alcazaba you can also see the monumental Royal Collegiate Church of Santa María. Outside the collegiate church, players identify architectural elements such as the triumphal-arch façade, Gothic pinnacles, construction materials including sandstone and areas eroded over time. Inside, they discover the three-nave layout with Ionic columns, the 16th-century Mudéjar wooden ceiling, various chapels and unusual objects such as the lectern and baldachin linked to liturgical practice. Legendary figures include the Tarasca, a symbolic seven-headed creature representing the deadly sins. The second game route takes place in the Antequera City Museum, housed in the former Nájera Palace with its striking brick tower and columned courtyard. The visit follows different periods in Antequera’s history, beginning with Prehistory and objects such as a fertility idol and the Neolithic burial known as “Paquito”. In the Roman section, players explore mosaics, children’s games and funerary objects such as the sarcophagus of Acilia Plecusa, an enslaved woman who rose in social status. One of the museum’s most valuable objects is the Ephebe of Antequera, an almost completely preserved Roman bronze sculpture that prompts questions about its posture, conservation and meaning. The route continues with Pedro de Mena’s Baroque sculpture of Saint Francis of Assisi and works by major Spanish Baroque masters such as Murillo and Velázquez in the Delgado collection. In the silverwork galleries, visitors identify techniques such as repoussé, precious materials such as gold and silver, and objects including crosses, patens and lecterns. Other rooms focus on Marian iconography and important episodes in the life of the Virgin Mary. The contemporary section highlights local figures such as José María Fernández, chronicler and defender of Antequera’s heritage, and current artists such as sculptor Jesús Martínez Labrador and painter Cristóbal Toral, whose hyperrealist works explore travel and displacement, often using the suitcase as a recurring symbol. By combining play with cultural discovery, Marco Topo turns every stop into an opportunity to observe, deduce and learn. It is an ideal experience for families and schools, revealing Antequera’s historical, artistic and human richness through curiosity and participation.