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Perhaps the most magnificent Renaissance square in all of Andalusia is Úbeda's Plaza Vazquez de Molina. The old market square, it acquired its present set of Renaissance buildings mostly in the 16th century when the ministers of Spain’s new Emperor funded Andalusia's most famous Renaissance architect to line this area with palaces. Of the many beautiful buildings that edge this square, four stand out (clockwise from upper left): Capilla del Salvador, Palacio de las Cadenas, The Parador, and Iglesia de Santa Maria de los Alcazares.
Úbeda is not only important in its own right, but its architecture and city-planning inspired much other building in Spain and in Latin America. Part of this was due to Renaissance Andalusia's greatest architect, Andréa Vandelvira, who left behind his legacy in stone here and through his son’s writings. In a time of very little formal training for architects, these influenced many builders who followed. Here we look from the Palacio de las Cadenas towards the Chapel of our Savior. Note that the red car is parked on the street, not on the plaza. (More on that later).
Does this look familiar? We saw this great Renaissance cathedral near Úbeda in its provincial capital of Jaen. It’s the religious masterpiece of Andréa Vandelvira. While Úbeda has no church on this scale, Vandelvira’s secular architecture here is spectacular. (If you haven't seen his work in Jaen, you may want to visit our album at http://picasaweb.google.com/schmitt.dick/JaenSpain#slideshow .)
Back to Ubeda now where we see another three-story façade with two "steeples" at either end: The Palacio de las Cadenas. This is one of Vandelvira's most important secular buildings. Its name comes from its time as the jail when chains were stretched across its entrance. It has also been used as a Dominican nunnery and is now a triple threat as a pottery museum, archive, and Úbeda's city hall. Look carefully at the top floor where we see the circular windows separated ...
... by 8 caryatids inspired (if not done by) the French sculptor Esteban Jamet who was active in Plateresque Spain around the time this was built. Caryatids are usually female and a bit less bellicose than what we see here (and not always as well fed, either). The male warriors hold the coat of arms of the family who first used this place as their palace -- the de los Cobos tribe who flourished in mid 16th century. Inside the nearby chapel that we’ll soon see, Jamet created many more caryatids as he brought this classic Greek form into the High Renaissance that was flowering in the soil of Gothic Spain.
Here's one of the turrets/viewing galleries atop the Palace. This is a hexagon, a common shape in this Renaissance town. Unlike most of the rest of the facade, these Dorian pillars and the crowning sculptures could use some restoration.
Besides being known as the palace of chains (Cadenas), it's also called Palacio de Juan Vázquez de Molina after the noble who paid Vandelvira's bills. He was a member of the town's own dynasty: the los Cobos family. More famous was his uncle, Don Francisco de los Cobos, who served as secretary of state for the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V who is often considered to be the first king of Spain (and a whole lot more territory besides). It’s likely that Francisco de los Cobos was the 2nd most powerful man in a Spain that had just expelled the Moors and was creating the world’s most powerful empire. Nephew Vázquez de Molina followed in his uncle's footsteps and became Charles's secretary as well as that of Charles' successor, Philip II. When these two ruled, Spain was hands down THE world power. But this new country spent more than it took in, and financial deficits eventually contributed to Spain's downfall. (Aren't you glad that can't happen today!)
Here's another close-up of the 2nd and 3rd stories -- actually not. These are the upper floors of the palace of Charles V at the Alhambra in Granada. Obviously Charles first secretary borrowed some ideas from his Emperor. Above is probably the first Renaissance building in Spain and precedes the Úbeda palacio by 3 decades. It's the work of Pedro Machuca who probably studied under Michelangelo. Vandelvira's influences are easy to trace in stone.
Here's a shot of the graffiti found on many of the Renaissance buildings in Andalusian Spain. It's obviously historic, but what does it mean? Vázquez de Molina and Vandelvira built this palace in 6 years starting in 1562. Unfortunately, de Molina had no children and so he decided to found a religious order to take over the place. He undoubtedly had help from his brother who was bishop.
Looking east from the palace across the long rectangle that is the Plaza Vázquez de Molina: To the left is Úbeda's old prison (right on the street with the nobles' palaces!) In the foreground is a Renaissance fountain. To the left center we see our next building, the Parador hotel. In the background is the Capilla (Chapel) of Our Savior.
We're now looking the opposite way from the prior picture. Down the long Plaza Vázquez de Molina is the more austere Deán Fernando Ortega Salido Palace, another Renaissance work of Andrés de Vandelvira. This was one of the first Parador hotels, and was the first Parador that Dick stayed in shortly after the global and personal darkness of 9-11. On this trip we again used this for our Úbeda base, looking out at this magnificent square from the 2nd window from the left on the upper floor. We probably had better plumbing than did the builder of this palace: Don Fernando Ortega Salido, Dean of the Cathedral of Malaga who, like the de los Cobos, was a part of the Emperor's retinue. Note the lack of cars here; no parking (other than luggage handling) is allowed in the entire plaza. More places should do this, especially if they look as good as Úbeda's public squares. (On the down side, we found a few dents on our rental car the next morning as we had to park it on the street.)
During our stay, the Parador seemed empty, especially around dinner time when no more than three couples would be in the dining room. The inner courtyard was spectacular -- and typical of Vandelvira's palace architecture.
So far on this magnificent square, we’ve seen two of the Renaissance palaces built by a bishop and the nephew of the town’s most important figure, but what about the residence of the man himself: Francisco de los Cobos, who when he died was probably the most important man in Spain besides the Emperor? In fact, Francisco does have the most dramatic building here, both inside and out. And he has resided in his place far longer than the others combined. Rather than a palace, he has a tomb -- the Chapel of the Savior (Capilla del Salvador).
Francisco de los Cobos helped introduce the Renaissance to Spain after he journeyed to Italy with Charles I. Before then, Spain was devoid of Renaissance architecture. Specifically in de los Cobos's hometown of Úbeda, the local bishop was a great promoter of Gothic churches until his death in 1520. Therefore this chapel was the first Renaissance church in this town. The de los Cobos family hired famous architect Diego de Siloé and his then fairly obscure assistant, Vandelvira, to build their mausoleum. Like many of the buildings first built when the Italian Renaissance burst into Spain, it's Gothic in structure with Renaissance cosmetics. Probably these transitional builders like de Siloé knew how to stack stones in a Gothic manner without their falling down. They were probably less sure about Renaissance structures with their domes and lack of buttresses. Here we see the west façade that fronts the plaza. Let’s study the reliefs a bit more closely.
Two sets of coat-of-arms and small vignettes of the labors of Hercules symmetrically guard the west façade. This crest on the left features male soldiers guarding the de los Cobos crest. The small rectangular relief shows one of the labors of Hercules. With Diego de Siloé and Vandelvira, Francisco De Los Cobos y Molina hired the Andalusian architectural A-team. Also a very important Spanish sculptor, as an architect, Diego de Siloé’s signature piece is the cathedral at Granada (pictures of this great building are coming soon). Because he was so busy in Granada, de Siloé had to delegate much of the work to Vandelvira. Here master de Siloé created the broad outline with his up-and-coming apprentice Vandelvira working the details in what was to be the building that would put the apprentice on the map (and put his buildings all over the map of Úbeda and the nearby cities of Jaén and Baeza.)
Nearly the only religious figure on this grand facade is Jamete's Esteban Plateresque relief of the Transfiguration of Christ above his adoring apostles (check out St. Peter's keys at center bottom). There is nothing Gothic about these faces. Esteban was a 16th century Frenchman who carved mostly in Renaissance Spain. He was obviously quite talented if a sculptor of Diego de Siloé's stature would allow him to decorate his building.
The overall layout of the facade seems influenced by Pythagorean mathematical formulas filtered through the work of Marcus Vitruvius Pollio who lived in Julius Caesar's day. Vitruvius left behind the only book on ancient Greek and Roman architecture to survive the dark ages. Rediscovered only in 1414, Vitruvius's work highly influenced Renaissance architects who, after all, were trying to recreate the classic forms. (Remember Leonardo's picture of a man inside a square and circle -- that's da Vinci's Vitruviun Man). Here we see the arch above the west door with Esteban's females holding an inscription while their own cherubs shield them with (broken) laurel garlands.
Here on the right side we have the coat-of-arms of Francisco de los Cobos wife's family -- the powerful Mendozas. At 40, Francisco de los Cobos was a bit old when he married, especially to the 14-year-old Dona Maria de Mendoza. This chapel is somewhat unusual in that it is a freestanding mausoleum – most others in Spain are attached to religious buildings. The de los Cobos family was able to get Pope Paul III to issue a bull in 1535 allowing a Chapel to the Holy Savior to be erected and staffed. Nearly 25 years later, it opened with Dean Ortega (who owned the palace next door) as its first chaplain.
This chapel is Vandelvira best-known early work. He had several sons whom he trained as architects but after his death, funds dried up as southern Spain suffered a recession. One of them, Alonso, unable to get commissions, wrote of his father's principals, further spreading the Vandelvira influence, especially in the flourishing Spanish colonies. His text on stonecutting was especially important as the 16th century saw this become an exacting skill. (The father Andreas Vandelvira had started his career as a stone mason). Note the senior Vandelvira’s work here on these voussoirs (the stones of the arch) beneath Jamet's rhythmic reliefs. Now lets move to the...
... intrados (the inner part of the arch), where we see mythic figures including the central image of the god of agriculture, Saturn, who, for some reason, Jamet has portrayed upside down.
These ornate double Corinthian pillars frame each side of the west door. Obviously these niches were built to hold significant statues which now seem to be missing.
Compared with the elaborate west façade facing the square, the chapel's south side is restrained and asymmetric. Its highlights are the single onion-capped spire and its ...
...magnificent Plateresque door which appears more pagan than religious. Supposedly these decorations by Esteban Jamet honor the virtue Charity.
These look to be mythical characters than saints although the character at top left seems to be standing in front of a cross. The madonna character at center looks a little too busty to be Marian (but a certain pop singer raised in the Detroit suburbs may swear allegiance to her).
Here's a few other embellishments smacking more of Rome than Romanism
The interior of the Capilla has quite an unusual layout. Diego de Siloé combined two classic shapes: the rectangular basilica (for the congregation) and the rotunda for the altar surrounded by burial crypts for the de los Cobos clan. (Typically the apse area would be a semi-circle in a Gothic structure but de Siloé also employed a rotunda in his masterpiece cathedral at Granada). Later Vandelvira added the rectangular sacristy which soon filled up with Jamet’s sculptures. Although a jewel in its own right (not just for the statues but also for Vandelvira's precise stone cutting), from the air, the sacristy detracts from de Siloe’s classic floor plan. But for those inside the chapel, the view is as de Siloé intended: An elaborate corner door off the first arch leads into the sacristy and is unseen while in the basilica. We have the best of both worlds: de Siloé's overall vision unmarred by the nearly completely separate sculpture gallery of Jamet and Vandelvira. The west facade and plaza are to the right.
Inside, photos were verboten but I found these clunky panorama shots on the web. This technology gives a broad but distorted view of the very symmetrical interior space. At center is the main altar behind an elaborate grille paid for by a Mendoza bishop, brother-in-law of Francisco de los Cobos. It’s the work of Francisco de Villalpando in 1555 and is considered one of these best examples of Andalusian metalwork. Family coats-of-arms rise above the grill between four medallions representing the four virtues which are, of course, faith, hope, charity – and justice. Just to the left of the altar/grille, the first arch holds the unusual corner doorway to Vandelvira’s vestibule with Jamet’s statues.
Here’s a view of the back half of the basilica with its side chapels laid out (as they are in Vandelvira’s cathedral in Jaen) between buttresses. The chapel was seriously damaged (like many of Úbeda’s churches) during the Spanish Civil War in 1936-39, including the near destruction of the central altarpiece. Restoration is in progress (and slow since it is privately financed). During the 17th and 18th centuries, many baroque touches were added to this Renaissance space. Some traditional pictures of the interior are available on this site: http://www.ubeda.com/El_Salvador/index.htm
The local old folks home: Just east of the Sacra Capilla del Salvador is the courtyard of the Honrados Viejos del Salvador Hospital where a charitable foundation dating back to 1392 took care of the disabled and elderly in this Italian-inspired building which was completely rebuilt in the 16th century when the neighborhood went Renaissance upscale. This front is also by Andres de Vandelvira. Unfortunately, only these two (non matching) double-arched sides of the rectangular courtyard remain.
The Church of Santa Maria de los Reales Alcazares sits across from the de los Cobos palace on the Plaza Vázquez de Molina. Its name suggests that it was built where the Moors had their Alcazar and, in fact, replaced a mosque (and seems to have taken the squarish shape of churches that sit on old mosque sites). Before that, the Romans may have had a temple here to Diane. Even before that, this was a Bronze Age settlement. The Christians took back the town in the year 1233 and started building their new parish church with the long name of High Parish Church of Santa Maria de los Reales Alcazares and Our Lady of the Assumption. Funny, there is no Assumption pictured on the facade -- only the Immaculate Conception statue above a Nativity relief.
Severely damaged during the Spanish Civil War, Santa Maria has been closed for restoration since 1983 so we couldn't see what is supposedly a magnificent Gothic cloister built on what was the mosque courtyard. Original construction started in the 13th century and extended through the 19th so we have elements of Gothic, Mudejar, Renaissance and Baroque styles here. During the 1980s, architects feared the building was becoming unstable and started dismantling the interior dome until they realized that the problem was really in the foundation.
As on the Capilla del Salvador nearby, these double columns define niches for statues on either side of the main entrance. Here we have the statues, but, alas, no heads. Some claim these were Saints Peter and Paul, others that they are of fellow apostles Andrew and Phillip.
The Corinthian capitals and the reclining angels above them, however, seem to be doing just fine.
The twin bell towers (done in 1888 by Philip Vara) seem to pay homage to the frequent Úbeda Renaissance style of Corinthian columns on the first floor and Ionic columns above -- even if only in relief.
This facade was designed in 1604 by Martín López Alcaraz, a follower of the same Vandelvira who architected or influenced most of the other buildings on this square during the previous century. We'll see a close-up of the Adoration of the Shepherd at the Nativity in a few pictures. The steeples were added in the 19th century replacing the damaged mosque minaret which had been incorporated into the Christian church but which fell during the 1755 Lisbon earthquake.
The central frieze is by Luis de Zayas who also sculpted some of the church's interior. Here he depicts the shepherds summoned to the Nativity. An angel above them seems to have lost his balance and is about fall from the curlicue clouds above onto the Child in the manger (who is quite large for having just been born.) Judging from their faces, Joseph has had a tough night but Mary stays serene. Below is a bit of the coat-of-arms of Don Sancho Dávila who was bishop when the facade was created.
Supposedly inside we have 16 chapels plus burial niches for Úbeda’s blue book (except for the de los Cobos brood who, of course, had their own mausoleum chapel a hundred yards away). Here's a more restrained ---but still quite lovely -- side facade.
Many other Renaissance buildings line the square, but let's look at only one more: the Palacio del Marqués de Mancera. This building was based upon some of the previous palaces by Vandelvira (one, of which, we'll see in minute.) Inside it contains the typical courtyard separating two colonnaded floors. The first Marquis of Mancera and his brother were the only individuals to ever live here.
This mannerist building is one of the most typical examples of the evolution of the medieval house-tower which by the late 16th century was falling out of fashion but which was revived here in a Renaissance building. We'll see similar decoration and galleries in several other Vandelvira mansions in Úbeda.
Two brothers built the palace. The better known of them was Don Pedro de Toledo who was a Marquis (nobleman) a viceroy (governor) in South America. Today this Palacio is used as a convent. Here we have two security devices: the classic wrought iron and the modern security camera. Too much progress here?
This relief adorns the second floor of the observation tower. Supposedly it's suggestive of the Greek god Eros (here Christianized with a cross) triumphing over Thanatos (the Greek god of Death).....Let's move now to a more modern square that seemed to be the heart of the town on the sleepy Sunday we visited:
Directly behind the magnificent Renaissance square Plaza Vázquez de Molina, we found this more mundane City Hall plaza. Here's a view looking west (above) over the barbecue grills (actually they're upscale recycling and trash bins) and looking east below.
Many of the buildings on this square are of more modern construction. One exception, of course, is the City Hall (Ayuntamiento) which, in fact, is the back of the magnificent Palacio de las Cadenas facing the adjoining Plaza Vazquez de Molina. The contrast between these two squares could hardly be greater but this building is on both!
While tourists flock to the monumental Plaza Vazquez de Molina, the townspeople go about their daily lives in Ayuntamiento square. We found these children out playing in their Sunday best.
While these children may appear to be unsupervised...
...in fact, their mothers are keeping a watchful eye from the outdoor cafes serving Sunday dinner. Here one strolls from one, beer in hand, to supervise the tykes. The monument is to the fallen in the Spanish Civil War. Úbeda has better angels, at least stone ones.
While this square is pretty much utilitarian, the light poles suggest a bit of Baroque elegance.
But kitty-corner to the prosaic city hall square rises this elegant mansion built by Andrés de Vandelvira for another of the de los Cobos family. In the old town of Úbeda, one never seems far from one of his Renaissance palaces. Hidden by the tree are two stark white Dorian pillars in front of corner windows on the two upper stories. These stand out dramatically from the mellow brown stone on the rest of this palace.
Here's Vandelvira's restrained doorway. The coats of arms are probably of the owner, don Francisco Vela de los Cobos and his wife. Earlier de los Cobos Ferdinand and Isabella drive the Moors from Granada. This palace was built during the 1570s.
The gallery is somewhat reminiscent of the mannerist-decorated tower we saw a few pictures back. We found these open galleries on the top floors of many of the palaces of Úbeda, but not as well arcaded as what we have here....Now let's travel to the next square to the east towards the old city walls....
...where we will find Úbeda's Plaza 1st of May which was the town's market square going back at least to the Moors souk (market).This quite large space has at least two important buildings, Saint Paul's church (inset in upper right) and its first town hall (inset lower left). It's still called Market Square by Úbedeños and was once the site of bull fights and Inquisition "confessions."
Unfortunately, the square was closed for construction. The band shell was in place but the statue of St. John of the Cross was probably away getting restored. Not to worry, several more statues of this famous barefoot Carmelite were within rosary distance of the square.
Most of the north side of this large plaza is anchored by the primarily Gothic Iglesia de San Pablo. Note below the upper gallery for watching what goes on in the plaza. And above its Romanesque apse, a most un-Gothic hexagonal tower sporting a bishop's coat-of-arms, perhaps that of Don Alonso Suárez de la Fuente del Sauce who raised the money for extensive renovations starting in the early 1500s -- a time when the secular nobles were trying to create Renaissances palaces and the Bishops were generally staying with their Gothic predilection.
Dog’s breakfast anyone? Given its age, St. Paul's is primarily Gothic with even some late Romanesque features. Given that work continued into the 18th century, other styles have made their way into its stones. The original church replaced one of the Moor's mosques which itself may have replaced an early Visigoth church. Pretty much all of that was destroyed during the 14th century civil war. The Gothic base we see here rose sometime after 1368.
Gothic churches’ main doors are usually on the west side but here San Pablo faces what was the town’s main plaza to its south. This is a magnificent portal added in the 16th century when most of the town was going Renaissance.
The tympanum shows green traces of its original polychromy (yes, Gothic masons painted their stone). Here symmetric angels bring Mary to God the Father who will crown her. Two of the funding bishops coats-of-arms frame the lower angels. Note the stonework at the bottom of this picture – good, but not as tight as what Vandelvira has done. (Vandelvira did provide some of the interior touches for St. Paul’s, however.)
Below Mary under a stone canopy stands the church's namesake, St. Paul, in Gothic rigidity.
Just to the west of the main portal appears this large recess with Renaissance moldings called "El Tabladillo" holding what looks to be a statue of St. Francis in pretty bad shape. This apparently served as a safe viewing point during bullfights held in the square opposite. As patron saint of animals, would Francis approve?
The west door with its double row of arches is the oldest and shows Romanesque traces. Unfortunately, the triple-naved interior of San Pablo was closed on our Sunday visit. Inside we missed some noted local Renaissance grillwork, a chapel by Vandelvira, and what appear to be gilded floats for religious processions. However, the town council provides a 360-degree video of the spacious Gothic interior for those with the skills and time to do a little downloading. It’s at http://www.ubedainteresa.com/portal/modules.php?name=Downloads&d_op=getit&lid=16
Here's an interesting coat-of-arms we found on the exterior of San Pablo near the north door. On diagonal axes we seem to have a pig under a tree alternating with an exuberant bird of prey holding what may be a lamb in his talons. Not what we'd expect on a church. It may be the crest of Cardinal Don Esteban Gabriel Medina (but usually cleric's crests are capped by a hat).
This little faded jewel of a building was Úbeda's first town hall and is today known as the Palacio Antiguas Casas Consistoriales. Started before Úbeda had its peak wealth, it took most of the 1st half of the 16th century to raise construction funds. Here we see the double-loggia facade that faces the old market square with a Mirador gallery on the upper floor to allow the town's fathers to watch over market activity, festivals, and bullfights. Corinthian columns hold up three large arches at bottom, while the six at top are Ionic. Missing is the saint in the niche at left, most likely San Miguel, the town's patron. At right is Saint John of the Cross, a temporarily local boy made very good. It had to be added during the first remodeling as John lived in the century AFTER this place was built. Below the niches the town’s coats-of-arms is sorely in need of restoration – the crowns inside of stars are barely visible.
Today Úbeda's Palacio Antiguas Casas Consistoriales is a music conservatory named after Maria de Molina, an Úbedeña who was Queen consort around 1300. Above is the south view with 5 arches -- and what appears to be a non-working sundial on the upper floor where two windows have been somewhat clumsily blocked off. From this angle, it’s obvious that the east façade was added on (starting in 1604). A close look at the tops of the Corinthian columns shows what may be the remains of arches leading outward from this building over what is today the street (also named after the Queen consort) which leads to the plaza with the newer city hall which is much plainer but in better shape. Unlike the impeccably restored buildings in the magnificent Plaza Vazquez de Molina, this Italian-Renaissance inspired building deserves a better restoration – maybe like the one the more attentive town gave the place during much of the 17th century . .... Before heading back into the town, let's head east to explore some of ...
...the eastern edge of Úbeda where the walls and the entrance gates still stand.
Puerta de Santa Lucia or the St. Lucy Gate is well preserved. Originally it led into the pottery district (and out to the Arab residential area.)
Here's a neat touch: the Plaza de Santa Lucia uses these lion heads to keep the cars in their places.
The view to the west shows modern Úbeda grown up over the former Moorish quarter. The old town walls are in the foreground.
At the other end of the east wall from St. Lucy Gate is the Losal Gate. Towers were built high over the gates so the town's defenders would have gravity on their side when attacked. Entrances were to the side and often went through angular passageways so battering rams were less effective.
The Losal Gate leads up a steep incline...
...through a horse-shoe shaped Mudejar double arch...
...and past the Lady of Solitude Chapel which greets arrivals. While such religious shrines are quite common in Andalusia, we didn't see much of these “chapel in the wall” niches in Úbeda. This shrine, however, prepared us for one of the most significant religious stops in a town renowned for its secular Renaissance architecture, since....
...this east end was the neighborhood for Úbeda’s biggest saint: St. John of the Cross whose remains were first interred here in this 1627 chapel built on the spot where he died in 1591. (His remains were stealthily removed in the middle of the night 2 years later.) Here his small Oratorio flanks one of the first Carmelite convents built after John and Theresa of Avila reformed that order. Two crests of the new order flank John's statue above the Corinthian columned doorway.
A poet-mystic and doctor of the church, John of the Cross was considered a co-founder of the reformed (Discalced) Carmelites. He who wrote "La noche oscura del alma" or "The Dark Night of the Soul" was born near Avila of a family that had converted from Judaism. He was one of the first to be schooled by a brand new order still known as the Society of Jesus. His fellow Carmelites imprisoned and whipped him as they thought he was moving the order toward too strict of an observance. While imprisoned, he wrote some of the greatest Spanish mystic poetry ever. Centuries later, the seminarian who was to become John Paul II wrote his dissertation on this saint's work. Fray Juan's Úbeda nights may have been dark for his soul as dissent again attacked the Discalced Carmelites and he withdrew into absolute solitude during the last years of his life. The adjoining convent is now a museum to his life.
Through the east wall, we see this view of the agricultural countryside of the Guadalquivir Valley that long fueled Úbeda’s growth. Olive orchards such as these are still the area's most important crop, but today about a third of Úbedeños work in service industries. The town is at the geographic center of the Jaen province and was on the border between Christian Castile and Moorish Granada after Fernando the Saint captured it in 1233. Subsequent kings would relocate subjects here in an attempt to keep the town from backsliding into the Moorish side.
Now let's take a walk west through the heart of Úbeda. Let's start with a quiet doorway whose historical significance is nearly smothered by tree branches.
The church of Gothic-Mudejar style church of Santo Domingo rises above its elevated and well-shaded courtyard. The tower we see here was added in 1702 by architect Francisco Caballero, much later than the rest of this church. Remains of medieval churches going back to the 13th and 14th centuries can be found beneath Santo Domingo’s foundations.
Many churches in eastern Andalusia were named for this saint who supposedly ransomed many captured Christians from the Moors of Granada. Climbing the stairs, we found Santo Domingo tucked into its own quiet pocket park that nearly obscures some of its outstanding details -- Such as this quiet door through which Úbeda walked into its Renaissance century.
The south door is from 1520-25, making it one of the first Plateresque portals in then Gothic and Mudejar Úbeda. How about those stacked columns? Note the vegetable frieze at top -- there is very little religious about this church door. The rest of the church has long since gone over to the secular side as well, having been used as a warehouse and is currently a workshop.
Here's a detail showing the rosettes that decorate these precisely cut arch stones (called "voussoirs"). The cleric's hat is that of Don Esteban Gabriel Merino, the bishop who commissioned this doorway just as the Renaissance was about to rebuild Úbeda in the 16th century. Previous bishops were pretty staunch proponents of the Gothic. The architect/mason was Diego de Alcaraz, a local. (Andrés de Vandelvira, who was 11 years old at the time, may have later mastered the Renaissance in Úbeda, but Diego introduced it.) During the 5 years that this door is being constructed, Francisco de los Cobos will accompany the Emperor on their first trip to Italy where Francisco will discover and bring back the High Renaissance to his home town where this door has already been added to a Gothic church. (Need some historical context? About this time the pope is trying to raise money to rebuild St. Peter’s in Rome by selling indulgences and a young German priest named Martin Luther is fussing with him about it.)
Enough of St. Peter’s in Rome; Let's now go to Úbeda’s St. Peter's square, a mishmash of buildings from the 13th through 19th centuries. Here we see the restoration of the palace of the counts of Guadiana. Temporarily, it's a "see-through building." Like many European restorations, the facade will be retained and a modern building created within it. As a UNESCO world heritage site since 2003, Úbeda requires its old town facades to remain unchanged. Therefore this was (and hopefully will return to being) an extraordinary building. At right in the collage (thanks to Wikipedia) we see an old picture of the palace: including caryatids and, suggestive of Vandelvira’s Vela de los Cobos palace, another set of stark white Doric columns on its corners -- all capped by a large gallery.
Attached to the counts' palace is the simple church of Saint Peter, perhaps built over an Arab mosque. Mostly Gothic, its Romanesque apse dates to the 2nd half of the 13th century, shortly after the Christians took back Úbeda. Its Plateresque doorway is obviously much later.
This facade was added in 1605 by Alonso Barba, a follower of Vandelvira. Here we have a woman holding twins next to the Corinthian column. Set amid Van Goghish swirls, she represents the virtue Charity. (Faith is on the other side of the door holding a cross and supposedly Hope was being reserved for Obama.)
On either side of Saint Peter, we have the crest of the bishop of Jaén on whose watch this facade was added: Sancho Dávila.
St. Peter's is a lovely square with a bit of green. The entire south side is taken up by the monolithic white wall of a Franciscan convent; but the west side has the more recent (19th century) Los Orozco Palace.
This is a French influenced building as seen by the bows above the windows. Úbeda’s most famous writer (after John of the Cross) is the modern Spanish novelist Antonio Muñoz Molina who set some of the scenes from his first novel in this palace. (He now lives in New York City.)
A walk through the narrow streets reveals many lovely Renaissance buildings now often used as hotels as is the case here with the elegantly burglar-barred Hotel Ordonez Sandoval...
...or the 16th century Rambla Palace with its classical facade including ...
...these gentlemen leaning on similar coats-of-arms. ...... Now let's venture to a more modern square that seems to move traffic from the old town into the newer areas:
Plaza de Andalucía sprawls where Úbeda’s city walls once opened for the road to Toledo. Today it serves as a conduit between the old town and new. Note the impressive Renaissance building at rear which is now a bank. In front is a strange statue, apparently commemorating the Spanish civil war.
The clock tower was part of the original city wall defenses in the 13th century and guarded the busiest entrance, the Toledo Gate. In the 16th century, it was converted to a clock and bell tower.
The coat-of-arms of the Hapsburgs, who ruled Spain (and a whole lot more) from 1506 through 1700, now adorns the tower. Úbeda’s 16th century heyday started when the town's nobles became the emperor's most important advisers.
On this late Sunday afternoon, we found more well-dressed kids turning the plaza into a playground.
The north edge of the Andalusian Square leads to the Church of the Holy Trinity. This is a huge church, taking up what appears to be a whole city block. Most of the exterior is quite plain except for a west and south doorway (shown here).
The west door is one of the few baroque portals in Úbeda. Above the door we see the three Persons of the Trinity (really two and a dove).
Here's a spectacular Plateresque facade just off the Plaza del Andalusia.
Now for our last Úbeda section: What else but another Andrés de Vandelvira building -- his spectacular hospital of Saint James (maybe the Saint James Infirmary for you jazz buffs?) It's now used as a cultural center, and we found it bursting with activity on the late Sunday afternoon of our visit. It has a double gallery. The large building rising above it is part of the "chapel" -- really church sized and now used as an auditorium. A band concert was taking place during our visit.
This is a huge building funded by one of the de los Cobos family to house poor patients. It functioned as a hospital for 400 years -- until 1975. The windows were enlarged during the 19th century.
Inside it has a typical double-gallery layout seen in many convents and hospital linked by a spectacular stairway.
This is one of Vandelvira's last buildings and completed in 1575, the year of his death. The stairway holds a large wood replica of one of his earliest buildings that put him on the map -- the Chapel our Savior in Plaza Vasquez de Molina. In some areas, it's a faithful wooden image of the stones that stand in the Plaza. For instance, the scroll held by the angels contains lettering. Yet the high windows on the real building do not have the stain glass shown here.
Here's a detail showing the only religious depiction on the front of the chapel -- the Transfiguration of Jesus.
The monumental stairway ceiling contains some of the rare frescoes found in the Spanish Renaissance. Making their appearance are kings and saints.
More of the spectacular frescoed stairway ceiling.
A corner detail in the upper gallery.
The hospital’s exterior is typically plain with some decorative molding just below the roofline using blue tiles. The central portico has classical reliefs suggesting a Greek frieze (but we'd suspect the horsebacked warrior is the bellicose apostle Saint James, patron of Spain and namesake of this hospital.) Two crests of the de los Cobos bishop who started this institution lie below it like wheels on a wagon. (Inside this huge building there was room for the bishop's tomb). This well manicured tree sprawls beneath Vandelvira's tile-capped tower (one of four).
This well manicured tree sprawls beneath Vandelvira's tile-capped tower (one of four).
Thanks for staying to the end of this long show (but with 48 designated monuments, many of the them spectacular Renaissance buildings, we still haven't seen all of Úbeda!) ....Join us on our other visits accessed at http://www. dickschmitt.com/travels.html .
