The town stands at a high elevation about from the right bank of the Guadalquivir in the Loma de Úbeda. Under the Romans, the town was known as Beatia. Following its conquest by the Visigoths, Beatia was the seat of a bishopric of Baeza. From the beginning of the VII century it was conquered by several Arab and berber states during the Al-Andalus period, being named Bayyasa. The Christian diocese was reestablished in 1127 or 1147 following the town's conquest by Alfonso VII of Castile, but it was then still reconquered by the Almohads. After the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa, Ferdinand III of Castile in 1227 takes the city and gives it the Fuero de Cuenca, a legislative corpus to facilitate the new castilian order and institutions. The diocese of Baeza was merged with Jaén in 1248 or 1249, but was later nominally restored as a titular see of the Roman Catholic Church. With it, a University was founded as well, what shaped the cultural personality of the city in the following centuries to come. Also, two powerful families, Benavides and Carvajales, compite for power and determine the historical evolution of the city, situation that required the intervention of Isabel I of Castile at the end of the XV century. The XVI century was the golden era of Baeza. It grew rich from several industries, notably textile, and the mentioned noble families, well connected with the Spanish Imperial state. They hired major architects of the era to design the present cathedral, churches, public buildings, and private palaces in the then-fashionable Italian style. The town's university building dates to 1533. The city importance declined in the 17th century, with the only remaining industry consisting of local production of grain and olive oil. As few newer structures were built during this period, this had the effect of preserving the town's Renaissance legacy. The university closed for a time before being reopened by the 19th century as a seminary. In the 1870s, the population was around 11,000; over the next few decades, the Linares–Almeria railway was constructed nearby and town's population grew to 14,000 by 1900.
Landmarks
Baeza still houses several fine public buildings:
Natividad de Nuestra Señora Cathedral, presents an early Gothic and Plateresque pilasters and crossed vaults finished in the XVI century in a Renaissance style by renamed architect Andŕes de Vandelvira, and since 1584 by architect and mathematician Juan Bautista Villalpando. The tower was redone in 1549 and the Chapel of St Michael was added in 1560.
Town Hall, a Plateresque building originally built as a combined courthouse and prison, leading to two separate main entrances
Baeza University, established in 1533 or 1538, now a secondary school
St Paul's Church, a Gothic church with a Renaissance portal with a two-aisle nave and Gothic chapels. Includes the tomb of Pablo de Olavide.
The Chapel of St Francis, in the ruins of a Renaissance building from 1538 formerly used as a monastery
Jabalquinto Palace, including an Gothic entrance flanked by two cylindrical pilasters with Plateresque capitals with mocárabes ornamentation, a Renaissance courtyard, and a Baroque staircase
Spain Plaza
Constitution Plaza, including a marble fountain decorated with Caryatides
Baeza is south of Madrid by highway. The Linares–Baeza RENFErailway station is away to the southwest; it lies on the Linares-Almeria line. There are bus connections to Granada, Málaga, and Madrid. Granada and Málaga are the nearest international airports.
