Church of Nuestra Señora de la Palma, Algeciras

The Church of Our Lady of the Palm is a Roman Catholic church on the southwestern corner of the Plaza Alta in Algeciras, Spain. Listed as Bien de Interes Cultural by the Spanish Ministry of Culture in 1992, like the Plaza Alta itself, it is an important city landmark.HistoryThe church is consecrated to Santa María de la Palma since Palm Sunday 1344 when Alfonso XI of Castile conquered the city after the Siege of Algeciras . That year, Pope Clement VI created the Diocese of Algeciras which was linked to that of Cadiz after he had converted the grand mosque of Algeciras, in accordance with Christian rites, into a church. That city was, however, retaken by the Moors in 1368 and destroyed on the orders of Muhammed V of Granada. The Diocese of Algeciras disappeared with it. The church is the canonical seat of the Cofradía de Jesús Nazareno, Santo Cristo de la Fe, Santa Cruz de Jerusalén y María Santísima de la Amargura . At the occasion of the bicentenary of the church, Santa María de la Palma was made co-patron saint of Algeciras, with Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, in 1923 by Pope Pius XI.