While we were staying in Jaén, we did a day trip to the surrounding areas. There are quite a few interesting towns nearby, and one of them is Baeza. Baeza is known for having one of the best-preserved examples of Italian Renaissance architecture in Spain. In fact, it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site for this purpose. So we took the car and drove from Jaén all the way to Baeza, which was approximately a 30-minute drive away.
When we arrived, we easily found a public parking lot, so that's where we left our car, and we slowly walked to the centre of town. And wow, this town is amazingly ancient!
As we were making our way to the centre of town from the public parking lot, we already noticed how the town looks very historic. The streets were rather narrow, and the buildings were definitely quite old. It was also very picturesque, and it just increased in historical ambience the closer we approached the town centre.
One of the major sights in Baeza is the Palacio de Jabalquinto. This building includes an Gothic entrance flanked by two cylindrical pilasters with Plateresque capitals with mocárabes ornamentation, a Renaissance courtyard, and a Baroque staircase. We were able to visit the courtyard, as otherwise it now functions as a university building it seems.
As we exited the palace, we explored the town even further, and it simply has plenty of these Italian Renaissance jewels that are a joy to explore. In any case, we spent the entire morning here, which was a massively enjoyable affair.
As it was approaching lunch time, we went back to our car, but before that, we found a cute little shop selling olive oil from the region. We bought some bottles as a souvenir to loved ones. And then we moved on.
