Lucena (Spanish pronunciation: [luˈθena]) is a municipality of Spain belonging to the province of Córdoba, in the autonomous community of Andalusia.

Lucena is located in the transition zone between the campiña in the Guadalquivir Depression and the Subbaetic system, at an altitude above mean sea level slightly below 500 meters.

[2] Despite claims of association with earlier locations (such as ancient Erisana), Lucena did not enter historical record until the period of Islamic rule.

[3] It was first mentioned in a 853 responsum which described Lucena (Alisana), then part of the Emirate of Córdoba, as "a city of many Jews" with "no Gentile in its midst".

[7] Amid the fitna of al-Andalus that brought the collapse of the Caliphate of Córdoba in the 11th century, Lucena became part of the Zirid Kingdom of Granada.

[11] Jewish commentator Abraham ibn Ezra lamented the fall of Lucena to the Almohads as if it were a sort of a minor Jerusalem.

[15] A borderland town with the Nasrid Kingdom of Granada for the rest of the middle ages, it became a possession of a branch of the House of Fernández de Córdoba [es] in the late 14th century.

[16] Population boomed in the early 16th century, growing from 1,300 inhabitants in 1495 to about 8,172 in 1530,[17] owing to the disappearance of the frontier condition in the wake of the Conquest of Granada in 1492.

[22] Similarly to the situation in other towns of the Kingdom of Córdoba, the Portuguese involved in sectors of the local economy such as the textile industry and slave trade.

Easter, or Semana Santa, is the most important celebration taking place yearly in Lucena, just like in most parts of Spain.

However, Lucena's Semana Santa, declared of Special Tourist Interest, is well known for its peculiar and unique way of porting or carrying the "pasos" or processions.

Highlights this day are the "trono" (platform in which the sculptures are carried) of the venerated Medinaceli Christ, and the Virgen de Piedra, a Madonna like that of Michelangelo in the Vatican in Rome.

First one, the Carmine congregation, founded in 1606 with 3 very old, historical and peculiar "pasos" leaving from the Carmen church in Southern Lucena.

Thursday at midnight at St. Matthew's Cathedral takes place one of the most awaited moments of all week: the "Cristo del Silencio" comes out from church in silence and with all lights shut down.

3 very peculiar "pasos" compose this congregation, 2 of which are unique to Lucena: that of the "Holy Faith Allegory" and also that of "Jesus washing St Peter's feet".

The most venerated and traditional "paso" is about to start its procession: the "Cristo de la Columna", by Pedro Roldán, comes out of St. Jacques church always punctual.