As the medieval Christian kingdoms advanced into the peninsular territories formerly occupied by Islam, many of the Muslim settlers remained living in the conquered territory. These Muslims are known as Mudejars.

Organised in communities called aljamas or morerias, they were allowed to continue practising their religion, had a degree of self-government and tended to be largely engaged in agricultural work and building trades. They were the creators of a peculiar style of architecture that developed in the different kingdoms of medieval Spain and which is known as Mudejar.

Mudejar is a symbiosis of the Romanesque and Gothic styles of the West and the most characteristic decorative elements of Muslim architecture. Thus, in Mudejar constructions we can observe elements such as the semicircular arch or the pointed arch typical of Christian culture together with the use of decorative filigree based on brick, the Mudejar construction material par excellence, and with glazed ceramic motifs. These, together with the use of wood in the roofs, are the most representative elements of Muslim architecture. This architectural style, in which the decorative elements are superimposed in perfect harmony with the purely constructive, was only found on the Iberian Peninsula, which was the place where both cultures coexisted for several centuries.