"Baeza - handsome Renaissance city" a Baeza Travel Page by elucas

Baeza, and nearby Ubeda, are Renaissance cities in the province of Jaen. The cities are both World Heritage Sites and no wonder, as both places boast an impressive selection of palaces and churches. Aristocratic families, who were at the Court of Castille, had their households here and embellished their home town with handsome properties in the latest architectural styles of the time.

The Jabalquinto palace has now been converted into the New University of Andalucia. The sheer scale of the palace is shown by the two tiny figures in this picture.

Baeza, like most places however, is not solely about important buildings and history. Andrew and I were exploring the quiet streets of the old town near the cathedral, when quite suddenly from behind a high ancient sandstone wall came a great clamour of noise and laughter. Schools out. The street swiftly filled with brightly clad children clutching books or rucksacks, talking, teasing, jesting as they rushed from school to play.

We had a light lunch in one of the cafes on the edge of Plaza de la Constitucion. This large tree shaded area, or Ramblas, as they are often known in Spain, seemed to be where most of the children headed, which is hardly surprising as at one end there was a playground. If you enlarge this picture you can just see them beneath the trees.