Lucena is a town in southern Spain, in the province of Córdoba, 70 km southeast of Córdoba, 95 km north of Málaga, 150 km east of Seville, 110 km west of Granada, and 100 km southwest of Jaén. Lucena is situated on the Lucena, a minor tributary of the Genil.
The parish church dates from the ending of the 15th century. The chief industries are the manufacture of furniture, brandy, bronze lamps and pottery, especially the large earthenware jars (tinajas) used in the past throughout Spain for the storage of oil and wine, some of which hold more than 300 gallons. There is not manufacture of matches any more. There is considerable trade in agricultural produce. The horse fair in September was famous throughout Andalusia,but since the last decades of the 20th century there is only a funfair like in most towns in Andalousia. Lucena was taken from the Moors early in the 14th century; it was in the attempt to recapture it that King Boabdil of Granada was taken prisoner in 1483. Our Lady of Araceli is an image brought from Rome in the 16th century and is the patron of Lucena, canonically crowned in 1948.
