Also known by the nickname of the "city of towers", because 11 towers, nine steeples, and a great many churches, palaces and viewing points rise above its houses, cija constitutes one of finest collections of monumental buildings in the province. Bordering on the province of Crdoba, 88 km from Seville, stands cija, a wealthy cereal producing town on the banks of the river Genil. It was Phoenician and later Roman, from which period it still preserves a splendid collection of mosaics.
Outstanding among the religious monuments are the churches of Santa Maria, from the 18th century; San Gil, from the 15th century and in the Gothic-Mudejar style; Concepcion, from the 17th century; and Descalzos, a baroque church from the 17th century. Prominent examples of civil architecture are the wonderful palaces, some of them declared to be National Monuments, like that of the Marquis of Benamej, from the 18th century, or Peaflor, famous for its long balcony and its paintings on the faade. The squares, fountains and miradors complete this exceptionally beautiful urban and architectural ensemble.
