While Granada is a lovely place to live in, traveling around Spain from Granada can be quite difficult since it's a bit far as it's located in the southeastern corner of Spain. So one of my goals while living here is to explore as much of Andalucía as I can, since it's more accessible now. Two weekends ago (yes, this post is way overdue),
Alsa had promos on their bus tickets so I took it as a sign and booked some tickets to Jaén. With one roommate in Barcelona and the other in Málaga, it was another solo adventure for me.
I woke up bright and early and caught the 7:45am bus to
Úbeda, which is a city in
Jaén, one of the provinces in Andalucía. I was actually only planning to go to Jaén city, but a few blogs and posts I had encountered recommended Úbeda. I did some research and it worked out that I could visit both cities. I arrived at Úbeda almost 3 hours later (it arrived in Jaén at 9, then left at 9:30, and made a stop in Baeza before finally arriving at Úbeda). I slept most of the way, and was ready to explore Úbeda when I got there. I was greeted by grey skies, but they thankfully cleared up later in the morning.
I made my way to
Plaza de Andalucía which is the exact center of the town. It was your average plaza with cute little buildings surrounding it, but the grey skies didn't make for nice pictures. So instead, I headed south to walk along the city walls.
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| Plaza de Andalucía |
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| Plaza de Andalucía |
The pictures get nicer as the day goes on, so click through to keep reading ;)
The Jaén region is known for being the largest producer of olive oil not only in Spain, but in the world. As I walked along the muralla, the old city walls of Jaén, I caught my first glimpse of the famous olive groves. And they were endless. Groves and groves of olive trees as far as your eye can see.
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| First glimpse of olive groves |
By this time, the skies had cleared and turned blue so it made for a nice walk.
I started off at the
Puerta de Granada. If you stand right outside the gate and face south, miles away past the olive groves, you'll find what else but Granada.
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| Puerta de Granada |
The old walls of what used to be the Alcazaba. The Catholic Monarchs ordered it to be destroyed, though I'm not sure why because the fortresses of other southern cities like Málaga and Granada are still standing today (remains of it, albeit much more than just the walls).
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| Old walls |
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| Olive groves |
The city is quite small, so in less than half an hour I found myself at the
Santa Lucía mirador, which was right by the old town.
I walked up the road leading to the plaza and had my first glimpse of the Renaissance architecture Úbeda is famous for. In the 16th century, Úbeda was blessed with the patronage of Francisco de los Cobos y Molina, and his nephews Diego de los Cobos and Juan Vázquez de Molina. Francisco de los Cobos was a local of the city, and rose to the role of Secretary of State for Emperor Charles V. His nephews became a bishop and an adviser to King Felipe II, respectively, and the three of them oversaw the construction of series of Renaissance style palaces and churches in their hometown Úbeda. Because of this, Úbeda is now recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.
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| UNESCO World Heritage Site |
The plaza I found myself at was the
Plaza Vázquez de Molina, and is a lovely Renaissance square surrounded by beautiful buildings. It's one of the prettiest plazas I've encountered in Spain (combined with the sun and the blue skies, it made for a wonderful morning).
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| Plaza Vázquez de Molina |
On the northern side of the plaza you have the
Parador (left of the picture below) and the
Sacra Capilla del Salvador (right of the picture below). A
parador is a luxury hotel run by the state, and it is usually in a historic building (think restored castles, palaces, monasteries or convents). Most all provinces in the different regions have a
parador, and are the money generated from the hotels are used to improve the various historical buildings in the city.
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| Parador on the left, Sacra Capilla on the right |
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| Southern side of the plaza |
The southern side has the beautiful town hall called the Palacio de Juan Vázquez de Molina. Below a picture of it from afar...
...and here a better look at that beauty. The Palace is nicknamed el Palacio de las Cadenas (the Palace of the Chains because of the decorative chains that once hung from the façade. It was the personal residence of Juan Vázquez de Molina, and after his death was given to a convent of Dominican nuns. Nowadays, the building is the town hall. The building was done by Andrés de Vandelvira, a Spanish architect who is said to be the one who brought the Renaissance to southern Spain. He designed many of the monuments in Úbeda and the province.
Across the Palace, still on the southern side is the Church of
Santa María de los Reales Alcázares. The church was built over a mosque (after the
Reconquista), and it has since been updated giving it a mix of Gothic, Mudéjar, Renaissance, Baroque and Gothic styles. It was a huge and beautiful church, but it cost €4 to enter, so I decided to save my money and visit the Sacra Capilla instead.
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| Santa María de los Reales Alcazares |
So I headed back the northern side and checked out the Sacra Capilla del Salvador (Holy Chapel of El Salvador). The chapel was commissioned by Francisco de los Cobos as a chapel and mausoleum for him and his family, and is considered Vandelvira's most important work. It's quite a small building, but its a symbol of Úbeda and one of the most important examples of Renaissance architecture in Spain.
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| Close-up of the Sacra Capilla de El Salvador |
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| Interior of the church |
I paid the €5 and checked out the gorgeous interior of the church. The main altar consisted of sculptures depicting biblical themes. And everything is covered in gold. Really beautiful to look at.
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| Main altar |
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| The dome |
After visiting the Cathedral, I continued walking around the old town, and headed to another square, Plaza 1º de Mayo. This plaza was once the site of a medieval market, and is now another open air square surrounded by more Renaissance buildings.
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| Plaza 1º de Mayo |
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| Statue of San Isidro Labrador |
On one corner you have this beautiful building and façade, which was once the town hall, but is currently a musical conservatory.
On the northern side lies the
Iglesia de San Pablo (Church of San Pablo). Its one of the oldest churches in the city, and is a mix of Romanesque, Gothic, and Renaissance.
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| Iglesia de San Pablo |
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| Iglesia de San Pablo |
I made my way along the streets towards the city center, checking out several souvenir shops. Aside from its high quality olive oil, another thing Úbeda is famous for is its
alfarería (pottery). What makes its pottery distinct and unique is its green glaze. The green color comes from the copper that is added to the ceramic.
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| Pottery shops |
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| Green glazed pottery |
Back at the city center, I checked out a few more buildings including the lovely roof of the Hospital de Santiago. This building was sponsored by Diego de los Cobos, and is another work of Vandelvira.
Úbeda was a such a charming town, and I really enjoyed walking around the streets and admiring the architecture. I had lunch at a nearby café, and by 3pm I was on the bus to Jaén. It was a quick trip, and the view the whole time was none other than olive trees.
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| The view throughout the whole Jaén region |
An hour and a half (and a
siesta) later, I was in Jaén. There were only two things I really wanted to visit in Jaén - the Cathedral and the Castillo de Santa Catalina. I made my way to the city center first, trying to remember the way since my phone was close to running out of battery. I found a tourist information office and got myself a map.
Then first up:
La Santa Iglesia Catedral de la Asunción de la Virgen (Assumption of the Virgin Cathedral). This beautiful Renaissance cathedral, yet again by Vandelvira, is located in the Santa María Square in the historic part of Jaén, and is currently being petitioned to become a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The cathedral is the highest part of the historic old quarter, and later on you'll see pictures of it standing out in the city's skyline. I spent some time inside (for another €5), then it was off to my next stop.
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| What a gorgeous facade |
Next up: the climb up Santa Catalina Hill. See that hill in the picture below? It's kind of hard to see since the background is white, but there's actually a cross in the middle of the picture. That was my next destination!
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| Climbing up |
It was a bit of a climb, but at the top of the stairs you're rewarded with a great view of the city, with the Cathedral standing out like I mentioned earlier. So pretty!
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| View from the top of the stairs |
From there, I started up Santa Catalina Hill. It was a nice out, and the hill wasn't too steep, so it made for an okay walk. Though there wasn't really any pedestrian path, and I had to stick to the side of the road. I'm actually a bit surprised that the area isn't easily accessible for tourists. At the tourist information center, they told me that there were no city buses that went there, and my best bet was to take a taxi (which would cost me around €10, so I decided to walk).
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| View of the castle from the bottom of the hill |
The castle you see in the picture above is actually Jaén's
Parador. Forty-five minutes later, I made it to the top!
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| Selfie with Jaén city behind me |
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| Gorgeous view of the city with the olive groves |
The Castillo de Santa Catalina (Santa Catalina Castle) which was originally constructed by the Moors in the 8th century, and was built on Santa Catalina Hill for natural defensive reasons. Later on it landed in the hands of the Castilians, and was transformed into what became known as the New Castle. Since I had trekked all the way up, I paid the €1.5 and checked out the castle grounds, learning a lot about Jaén's history. Random trivia: the province of Jaén has the highest concentration of defensive systems in Spain with over 400 castles, towers, and turrets.
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| Castle ruins |
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| Castle walls |
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| Castle walls with the watchtowers |
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| View from the watchtower |
I exited the castle ruins, and made my way towards the cross which I pointed out before, which is maybe just 5-10 minutes away from the ruins. The monumental cross recalls the cross that Castilian King Ferdinand III originally had erected there (I think it was destroyed during the French occupation).
Then the highlight of it all: the view. Just beautiful.
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| View from the cross |
After resting a bit, I decided to head back down while it was still light out. It took me another 40 minutes or so to get back to the city center. By then, my feet were pretty tired so I headed back to the bus station. I had dinner at around 8:30 at a small restaurant, and was on the 9:40 bus back to Granada. It's really nice being able to see lesser known Spanish cities, and conveniently so in just a day trip. :)
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