The province of Jaén is the entrance door to Andalusia. Among seemingly endless olive groves, the influence of its Castilian neighbors becomes evident in their small towns. Less Moorish than Córdoba or Granada, Úbeda and Baeza presume magnificent Renaissance buildings, which have earned them the UNESCO World Heritage Declaration.
Baeza
In the Plaza del Pópulo an impressive fountain, the source of the lions. His lions, barely recognizable, come from the remains of the Iberian Cástulo settlement and were brought here in the 16th century. It is believed that the female figure in the center of the fountain represents Himilce, the Iberian wife of the Cartaginés Aníbal, the most important strategist of the Punic wars, and had to originally decorate his tomb in a peel.
Surrounded by magnificent buildings, the gaze is directed to the two large arches that give access to the square: the door of Azacaya, popularly known as the door of Jaén, and the Villalar arch. To the left of the two portals is the door of Jaén, destroyed as part of the city walls, demolished in the fifteenth century under the reign of Isabel la Católica.
In honor of the visit of King Carlos I in 1526, this historic door was faithfully rebuilt, by which Christian troops departed to conquer the south of the Iberian Peninsula, inhabited by Muslims. The Villalar arch, located on the right, was built to commemorate a common uprising stifled by Carlos I.
The facade, richly decorated, of the building that today houses the Tourism Office was built in the 16th century in the Plateresque style. On the left side of the square, on the plot that originally housed the slaughterhouse and carnage of the town, is the Baeza district court.
We now enter through narrow alleys towards the heart of the old town. The cobbled streets lead us to the old university, a building where the red letters of the vitores commemorate the students who proudly wrote their names here after passing their exams. Although the Renaissance building now houses a school, you can visit the patio and the living room where the Spanish poet Antonio Machado taught French classes.
A few steps, we reach another place. Here we find the small and modest church of Santa Cruz and the ornate Palacio de Jabalquinto, who now houses the university. This late Gothic architectural style, rich in ornamentation and that combines gothic and mudéjare structures with influences from northern Europe and Renaissance elements, is also known in Spain as “Elizabethan Gothic” for its popularity during the reign of the Catholic Queen Elizabeth I of Castile.
The palace owes its name to a distant cousin of the Catholic king Fernando, the Lord of Jabalquinto, Juan Alfonso Benavides Manrique, who ordered the house in the fifteenth century.
On the back of the corner is another square, the Plaza Santa María, the heart of the old town of Baeza. In front of the cathedral of the Nativity of Our Lady there is a source. The construction of the exceptionally Bella Fuente de Santa María, reminiscent of a magnificent arc of Roman triumph, was a small engineering work that supplied running water from the plain plateau to the city, in rapid growth during the 16th century.
After this first walk through Baeza, I am determined to explore the work of Antonino Machado. It is said that the poet, a member of the 98 generation, captured the beauty and atmosphere of the city in his poems.
Úbeda
Two years ago, during a trip to Andalusia, I visited Úbeda for the first time. It is a completely different city from what one would expect from southern Spain. In addition to the olive groves and plantations, which impressed me especially at that time, Úbeda has buildings declared a World Heritage by UNESCO.
In the Monumental Plaza Vázquez de Molina, the magnificent chapel of the Savior evokes a cathedral for its size and splendor. Like Baeza, Úbeda experienced a deep restructuring in the 16th century, when the Catholic Monarchs, Isabel and Fernando, conquered the south of the Iberian Peninsula to the Muslims. Instead of narrow Moorish alkons, wide streets were drawn and palaces were built in the then popular Renaissance style, whose ideas and ideals had spread from Italy to Spain.
The water synagogue, a synagogue hidden with Mikve that survived the last centuries hidden under residential buildings, was rediscovered by chance in 2010.
On Real Street, the main artery of the old town of Úbeda, I find the Taberna Calle Melancholy, a small bar whose name and decoration honor the poetic letters of the Spanish singer -songwriter Joaquín Sabina.
In Tito’s pottery, we know his son, Juan Pablo, who has followed the footsteps of his father and, before our eyes, create traditional jugs and delicate vases from a piece of clay. Sitting in his lathe, he enjoys chatting and telling the development of the ceramics and history of his father, Tito.
I was especially impressed by a small restaurant that, from the outside, seems quite modest, but that actually hides a real surprise: Cantina the station is a dream come true, and not only for railroad fans. In this dining room, decorated with red armchairs and tassels, you feel as if you were in the Orient Express, or rather, in Al-Andalus, the luxurious Renfe passenger train that runs through southern Spain. Landscapes of authentic railway routes slide through the windows. Not only decoration, but also food is exceptional and highly recommended. With this exciting combination of exclusive atmosphere and delicious dishes, the restaurant has earned a place on the list of Bib Gourmand restaurants of the Michelin guide.
Cantina La Station Restaurant
CTA. Rodadera 1
23400 Úbeda (Jaén)
cantinalaestacion.com
Addresses and Useful Data in Baeza and Úbeda
You can find a lot of information on the website of the Tourism Office of Baeza and the Tourism Office of Úbeda.
I stayed in a very nice hotel in the old town. The rooms are distributed in two floors around an inner courtyard. They are spacious, the beds are comfortable and breakfast is served in a small dining room next to it.
Hotel Alvar Fañez
Calle Juan Pasquau 5
23400 Úbeda (Jaén)
hotelalvarubeda.es
Taberna street melancholy
Calle Real 57
23400 Úbeda (Jaén)
tabernacallemelancolia.com
Synagogue: Water Synagogue
ROQUE ROJAS CALLE 2
23400 Úbeda (Jaén)
sinagogadelagua.com
ALFAJERÍA TITO (Juan Martínez Villacañas “Tito”)
City Hall Plaza 12
23400 Úbeda (Jaén)
Note: Press trip
This article and its photos are reproduced with authorization from the author.
The author loves to travel, and he believes that it is not always necessary to go very far, because even in central Europe there are still small unknown places, exciting landscapes and exciting stories that expect to be discovered. After finishing his studies, Nicole Biarnés moved to Spain, where he has resided near Barcelona for 23 years. As an independent writer, she writes travel books, writes texts for several websites, conducts in situ research for television productions and reports life in the Mediterranean in her travel blog www.freibeuter-reisen.org.
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