Subbetica
St Mark's Church
Situated on the street that bears its name, it is located on the outskirts of the village; it is accessed via a gentle slope leading to the chapel door. It must have been built in the late 16th century, as the First Register of the Marriage Book records a certain Juan López Rey, ‘of San Marcos’, in 1594; consequently, San Marcos must already have been built by this date, its interior revealing a very simple architectural layout typical of the period in which it was constructed. On 16 October 1671, the School of Christ was founded in the chapel of San Marcosunder the patronage of Our Lady and Saint Philip Neri, a congregation established by Andrés Peralbo in some houses near the chapel.
In 1834, theCongregation of St Philip Neriwas secularised, at which point the chapel must have undergone significant alterations. The exterior of this oratory is very sober and simple; the main façade stands out, being very smooth, finished in a gable, and pierced by a circular opening above the 19th-century semi-circular doorway, framed by pilasters and crowned by the coat of arms of Diego Castell y Ros de Medrano, abbot of Alcalá la Real, who must have placed his coat of arms there in the early 18th century.