Lerma - Colegiata San Pedro

Lerma is a small town (pop. 2,500) that was given its present appearance by Francisco Gómez de Sandoval y Rojas, Marqués de Denia and Duke of Lerma (1553-1625) in the early 17th century. He was a grandson of the Jesuit general Francisco de Borja and a leading representative of the Counter-Reformation in Spain.

His uncle was the former Archbishop of Seville, Cristóbal de Rojas y Sandoval (1502-1580). He wanted to be buried in Lerma. Some twenty years after his uncle's death his nephew chose the parish church of San Pedro as a suitable site for the necessary demolition and subsequent new construction of the collegiate church.