Walk Around Baeza: Plaza del Pópulo, Jabalquinto and the Old University

You can walk Baeza from bottom to top in an hour and a half. Úbeda and Baeza have been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2003 for their Renaissance ensemble, and in Baeza that legacy is packed into a few streets: you start in Plaza del Pópulo, climb the Cuesta de San Felipe Neri past the Jabalquinto Palace, go by the Old University and reach Plaza de Santa María and the cathedral. From the outside everything is free and pedestrianised.

Plaza del Pópulo

It is also called Plaza de los Leones after its fountain, which for centuries was the town's main one; according to some historians, its pieces come from the Roman city of Cástulo. The municipal guide describes it as one of the most symbolic spaces of newly conquered Baeza. On one side is the old Audiencia Civil y Escribanías (civil court and notaries' office), from around 1535, which now houses the tourist office; on the other, the former Carnicerías (town slaughterhouse and meat market), from the first half of the 16th century. The square is closed off by the Puerta de Jaén, a remnant of the city wall, and the Arco de Villalar, built to commemorate the victory of the troops of Charles I.

Jabalquinto and the Old University

Going up the Cuesta de San Felipe Neri you come to the Jabalquinto Palace, from the late 15th century, which the municipal guide lists as one of the finest examples of Isabelline Gothic. Together with the former Seminary of San Felipe Neri, founded in 1660, it is now the Antonio Machado campus of the International University of Andalusia, and the municipal guide gives it as open only on weekday mornings, Monday to Friday.

Opposite, the Old University was finished in 1593 as the second home of Baeza's studies. Inside is the classroom where Antonio Machado taught French when the building was a secondary school; it can be visited. Next to it is the church of Santa Cruz, from the 13th century and in the late Romanesque style.

Plaza de Santa María

The walk ends in Plaza de Santa María, where for centuries religious and civil power lived side by side. Here you find the cathedral, a former main mosque turned into a cathedral seat in 1227 and remodelled in the 16th century with the stamp of Andrés de Vandelvira; the Casas Consistoriales Altas (the upper town hall buildings), from the late 15th century; and the Fountain of Santa María, from 1564, which celebrates the arrival of running water in Baeza.

How to do it

Park down below, outside the upper old town, and walk up: the streets are narrow. The opening times of Jabalquinto and Machado's classroom change; ask for them at the tourist office in Plaza del Pópulo. If you want to go inside one building, the cathedral is the essential visit. For lunch next to the cathedral there is Bar Pacos and, for a special meal, Vandelvira.

With children and with a dog

The slopes are short and easy going with children. With a dog, keep it on a lead in the street.