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Like its neighbor, Úbeda, Baeza is an Andalusian Renaissance town. Its tourist office provides a map with over 50 attractions, but we’ll focus on just 2 ½ of them: a secular palace, the cathedral (of course), and a convent now in ruins but cleverly displayed. Let’s start with the Palacio de Jabalquinto, perhaps Baeza’s best example of civil architecture, combining a flamboyant Gothic structure with Isabelline decorations on its façade. Inside the Renaissance meets the Baroque in its lovely courtyard.
The palacio was built for Juan Alfonso de Benavides, a relative and favorite of King Fernando (of Fernando and Isabella fame). Benavides was the lord of a nearby town called Jabalquinto. His family was big in Baeza, eventually producing a cardinal. (The Benavides often fought for Baezan supremacy with a rival clan, the Carvajals, until Isabella put a stop to it by tearing down the Alcazar and town walls.) This late 15th century building probably rose before the Alcazar came down – but it reminded the Carvajals and the rest of the town of the prestige of the Benavides.
In our Andalusian travels, we had gotten used to plain front buildings with a bit of decoration around the doors. Not so here: nearly the entire façade explodes in Gothic windows, 8 shields of various family members, and even stalactite pillars suggesting Mudejar embellishment. The Renaissance loggia was added later. Today this building houses part of the Universidad Internacional de Andalucia which started in 1994. Baeza itself had a university much earlier, one of the few Spanish towns with one as early as the 1500s. Over the ages, it attracted intellectual talent including two of Spain’s greatest poets, St. John of the Cross who wrote his Spiritual Canticle here in the 16th century, and the early 20th century Antonio Machado who taught grammar.
Here’s a close-up of some of the intricate masonry. Perhaps we have Adam and Eve with the fig leaf blown over their heads. The facade is thought to be the work of Juan Guas and Enrique Egas.
Inside, the Benavides family accessed their living quarters by climbing up this Baroque stairway with lions on each side. (Note Queen Isabella on the right). Could the walls be more ornate or the pillars more simple?
Here’s the family’s view of its Renaissance courtyard where the upper and lower galleries seem to match. The family gave the place to Saint Philip Neri Seminary in 1720 with the condition that they could stay in a room whenever they visited the town. The government confiscated the place in the 1800s, then gave it back to the church who has since loaned it to the University for 90 years. If you want to see more of the Jabalquinto Palace, we’ve posted another dozen pictures or so at http://picasaweb.google.com/schmitt.dick/BaezaSpainPalacioDeJabalquintoSupplementalPictures#slideshow .
Across the street from the highly decorated Palacio de Jabalquinto is the much more modest Church of the Holy Cross (Iglesia de Santa Cruz). One of many Romanesque churches built after Fernando III took Baeza from the Moors in 1227, it alone survives. (If this doorway seems a little incongruous it is because it was moved from another church in the 1950s, sort of a facial transplant.) Inside it’s a three-nave basilica. While it looks quite boxy, it does have a semi-circular apse inside, along with several 15th century frescoes which were restored in the 1990s. Parts of the building are very old including an arch reused from Visigoth times (that’s before the Moors invaded in 711 AD.)
Let's now tour the Cathedral. It's a little surprising that a town as small as Baeza gets a cathedral. Yet it was the first town in Andalusia to have one. This is probably due to the fact that Ferdinand III took Baeza back from the Moors in 1227, one of his first conquests. Baeza had been its own Moorish kingdom (taifa). Its emir was a vassal of Ferdinand until the emir was suddenly assassinated (but not by Ferdinand, of course, who was a saint.) Ferdinand also moved in Christians, hoping this infusion would keep the town from backsliding. As the center of the last stage of the Reconquista, Baeza merited a bishopric.
Several buildings edge Plaza Santa Maria including the Gothic Casas Consistoriales Atlas which is attached perpendicularly to the cathedral. The crests of the Emperor Charles V's parents are intermixed with fine mullioned windows. History knows his mother as Joanna the Mad (Juana La Loca), perhaps because she had schizophrenia. She was often locked up but not too much, as she bore 6 children – 2 emperors and 4 queens. And all of them had children as well. If her genes passed madness, it was no impairment to ruling in those days. (Is it in ours?) This early 15th century building housed the religious courts; since 1991 it has sung a different tune as a music school.
Facing the cathedral is this Renaissance fountain held up on both sides by caryatids by Ginés Martínez who brought water to the city in the mid 1500s. Behind it is the 17th century Seminary of Saint Philip Neri. Upon graduation, students would use bulls' blood to inscribe this graffiti.
The main entrance to the cathedral is through this Renaissance-style doorway slapped onto poorly masked arches. The central relief needs restoration and is a bit hard to decipher. Since the church is named Cathedral of Our Lady of the Nativity, we’d suspect this would be of the birth of Jesus. However, it appears that water is being poured over the head of an infant in the lower scene – a baptism that never happened.
The octagonal tower appears to have been built upon the square base of the old Moorish minaret. The small opening is called Puerta de la Luna (Moon Doorway). Did it have a crescent once? The cathedral was built on the mosque site but long before that it had been a pagan temple.
The haphazard amorphous exterior opens to this scene: Andalusia’s greatest Renaissance architect, Andres de Vandelvira, reconstructed the severe Castilian interior in the 16th century. Several of the side chapels are also of his design. Here Corinthian columns lift oven vaults over the three naves of the basilica.
Side chapels are often protected by screens which are themselves works of art. The chapels themselves are recessed only about the width of their altars.
At left is the Chapel of San Jose with caryatids stacked above statues of saints. At right is the 1560 polychrome chapel to the warrior archangel Michael designed by Diego Luca and Francisco Herrara. It's missing its statue of St. James. The early 18th century oil of San Miguel is by Francisco Pacorbo.
Another great screen! Can the fence be more valuable than what it protects? This 16th century metalwork is by Bartolomé de Baeza. While polychrome now, these were probably not the original colors. At top we see the Coronation of the Virgin. She stands directly above St. Andrew, a big saint in Baeza as we will soon see. On either side of Andrew, angels hold up the coats-of-arms of the sponsoring bishop.
While we’re talking heavy metal, how about this polychrome 6-sided wrought iron pulpit from 1580. Catch the patron saint of the smiley face dressed in green and red at right. Polychrome on metal seems to be the rage here. The underside appears to need a little restoration.
We suspect that this series of reliefs resurrects Baeza’s re-Christianization. At center the Virgin and child hover over a set of keys usually associated with St. Peter. These keys resemble those on the Baeza’s town seal so they probably have some symbolism with the Reconquista. On the right is St. Andrew. Fernando III appealed to this saint as he invaded the city and decided to add the cross of St. Andrew to the Spanish flag to thank Andrew for his miraculous aid in taking this town from the Moors.
Like many historic Andalusian cities, Baeza has elaborate processions with large floats maintained by brotherhoods who come together to do good works and carry these contraptions. Often these floats reside in the churches between processions. Here we have a solicitation along with suggested donations to support the brotherhood. The locals can get away with Nada, but we tourists seemed to be paying full fare. (At the moment though, this sign seems to have more specificity than most financial bailout plans seen to date.)
Here we have one of the statues resting upon a wooden relief of the last supper.
A further elaboration of the Last Supper scene. Jesus appears to be having a bad hair day. Radiance is not always easy.
Thanks to Wiki, we found this picture of our last supper statues in action, seen here leaving the cathedral with its octagon tower in the background. (But this may be another set given the hand position of Jesus).
Of even more interest is a large ceremonial monstrance carried in processions. Unhappy with the Nada contributions, the Cathedral has placed it behind this painting. If you deposit a Euro...
...the oil painting will roll back and ...
... you will get to see this Baroque masterpiece as it rotates for about a minute, showing you all of its silver carvings. Look closely at center left and you will see a bit of the silver-haired photographer.
Perhaps the finest sculpture is the Plateresque relief above the sacristy door. This leads into a working sacristy and then into the cloister and the small cathedral museum.
Since this space was once a mosque, we supposed that this cloister may have been that building's courtyard.
This is especially likely when we note several Mudejar arches whose recesses have been converted to sparsely furnished chapels. There's lots more to see in this cathedral and we've posted about 85 more pictures for those who wish to see at http://picasaweb.google.com/schmitt.dick/BaezaJaenSpainCathedralSupplementalPictures#slideshow .
Baeza's Plaza del Pópulo is also called Plaza de los Leones after the fountain at lower right. It has two major historic buildings and a commemorative arch. Stones here remind us of history stretching back to the days when Carthage fought Rome -- and later when the Spanish nobles fought their new Emperor in the 1500s.
Baeza spans three gentle hills. One descends from the cathedral to the large and lively Plaza de la Constitución. About halfway it stops at this bit of a plateau: the Plaza del Pópulo. We found the square empty just before the start of a Monday siesta. Note the absence of cars in the monumental squares, as was the case in nearby Úbeda. In the foreground is the Fuente (fountain) of the Leones, at left the old butcher shop, back center is the Casa del Pópulo attached to the Arco (memorial arch) de Villalar.
The Fuenta de los Leones (Fountain of the Lions) was assembled from the ruins of the once nearby town of Cástulo. The statue is of Cástulo’s princess Himilce who married Hannibal as Carthage prepared in Spain to take on those upstart Romans in the Second Punic War. During the Visigoth and Moorish eras, the town faded and much of it migrated – first the mint, then the bishopric, and eventually the very buildings were moved stone by stone -- to Baeza. What was left of Cástulo became a haven for bandits and it was leveled like a crack house in the 15th century. Today not even archeological excavations take place in what was the Roman’s largest town in Iberia. These deteriorated lions and their princess remind us “Sic transit gloria Cástulo.”
This stately building was also moved here stone by stone – but not from Cástulo. It was the old butchers shop (Antigua Carniceria) which stood about 100 yards from this site. What does it say about a society when the slaughterhouse looks this good? Today this 16th century Renaissance jewel has a more dignified role as the judicial center. (Do those barred windows keep people out or in?) At center of the upper floor we see...
...the Emperor's coat-of-arms. The double eagle is that of the Holy Roman Emperor who borrowed the image from the Byzantine Empire which kept Rome alive (more or less) in the East until the 15th century. This shield is of Charles V. His ancestors participated in enough sanctioned incest so that he inherited through 4 different royal lines -- giving his crest four inner shields representing each of the lines of descent. Charles became a biological European Union. Since his family tree didn’t branch, he suffered from the Hapsburg jaw – so misaligned that he could barely chew (and digest his food). Epilepsy and gout also plagued him. Today the shield of the man who couldn’t masticate emblazons an ancient butcher shop. Go chew on that!
The Casa del Pópulo is now the tourist office. It was called the Audiencia Civil y Escribanías Públicas since townsfolks would come here to get documents written and read, entering different clerks’ offices through the six doors seen here. Its beautiful Renaissance façade seems to have its symmetry broken by the quarter-circle balcony which was incorporated into the old arch of a city gate.
Medallions emblazon this Plateresque façade. Below is the dilapidated seal of Baeza. Use the enlarge icon to see the keys between the arch of the castle (or try this link: http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archivo:Escudo_de_Baeza.svg ).
The balcony on the Casa del Pópulo is quite elaborate even if a bit incongruous.
This arch bears another of Charles V's crests and faces the old butcher shop across this small square. We look here past the balcony of the Casa del Pópulo through the Puerta de Jaen (left) and an arch commemorating the April 1521 victory of Charles V over pesky Castilians who rebelled against his taxation. This started as Charles was tied up suppressing Luther at the other end of his European kingdom. Luther ended his defense at the Diet of Worms 3 days before the battle at Villalar. Things would get worse as Charles tried to preserve the Catholic Church. A few short years later, Henry VIII would try to annul his 24-year marriage to Charles’ Aunt Catherine. Henry appealed to the Pope, Charles's prisoner at the time. But not all was problematic for Charles in 1521: Charles' realm stretched westward to the New World and Magellan was sailing into what would be called the Philippines, named for Charles' son and successor Philip. But eventually it all became too much and Charles resigned his emperorship in 1556.
But Charles V's visit to Baeza came at a happier time when he stopped here in 1526 on his way to marry Isabel of Portugal (his cousin, of course). Only a few remnants of the old fort (Alcazar) and the town's defensive towers, walls, and gates still stand after 1476 when Queen Isabel ordered them destroyed, hoping to end the nearly constant civil war between the town’s two most powerful families. In many Andalusian towns, one family would capture the old fortifications and use it as a base to attack their rivals. After Ferdinand and Isabel completed the Reconquista, they removed much of these fortifications since they no longer needed them to defend against the Moors. The enemies now were to come from within (until Napoleon arrived three centuries later.) Note how much thicker the walls were of the defensive gate (Puerta de Jaen) at right vs. the commemorative arch (Arco de Villalar) at left.
Let's look at one last building -- actually a non-building, the ruins of one of Vandelvira's major works. Between earthquakes and the pillaging of Napoleon's troops, it's suffered greatly.
The church front (right) seems to have held up with this lovely doorway. Attached to it is the old convent with a lovely courtyard – all home to a guide-book recommended restaurant named after Jaen provinces’s most famous Renaissance architect. Ironic that the building with Vandelvira’s name on it is attached to ruins.
A closer look at the relief above the main door. The center rectangle appears to have St. Francis praying (perhaps receiving the stigmata). The building in the right hand corner may be this one.
The backside is another story; here rising above the orange trees are arches of steel that remind viewers where Vandelvira raised stone vaults.
Obviously there was not enough money to restore the church -- but at least they didn't tear it down. The shapes help give some idea of Vandelvira's overall design. This dome must have been spectacular. The arch at left appears to lead into the nave and what's behind it is glassed. We appear here to be looking at the crossing.
A closer look at this arch which probably defined where the nave met the crossing. Guide books say the nave now serves as an auditorium.
We weren't allowed near, but our telephoto lens caught sight of the pillars and various reliefs, now exposed to the weather 450 years after they were built.
This would be the Renaissance ceiling of one of the three chapels in the apse.
The crossing would be fairly narrow and we'd be looking at the Gospel side altar at the transept. The rectangular reliefs on each side appear to be of the same scene...
...and commemorate the visit of the Magi to the just born Christ.
The town's tourist map suggests 51 stops. How many would have been on that map just before the great Lisbon earthquake of 1755 wiped out most of this town? Fortunately enough freestanding buildings from the Renaissance days still stand such as Vandelvira’s Plateresque city hall shown in the background (and in 3 of the inserted pictures). The other palaces and churches helped make Baeza a UNESCO world heritage site starting in 2003 (with its sister city, Úbeda). Note one of the old defensive towers (upper right) incorporated into the modern city.
Thanks for viewing. If you want to see more of our Baeza photos (without much in the way of captions) click on the X to stop the slide show; then click on these links: MORE CATHEDRAL at http://picasaweb.google.com/schmitt.dick/BaezaJaenSpainCathedralSupplementalPictures#slideshow MORE PALACIO DE JABALQUINTO at http://picasaweb.google.com/schmitt.dick/BaezaSpainPalacioDeJabalquintoSupplementalPictures#slideshow And, of course, you can see most of our travel pictures from this site: http://www. dickschmitt.com/travels.html .
