Úbeda

After Christmas we went on a road trip to visit some places further away from Seville. On the way to the Sierra de Cazorla we stopped for lunch in a lovely little town called Úbeda in the province of Jaén.

Úbeda is known as the capital of the Andalusian Renaissance as it boasts almost 100 ‘buildings of interest’ (churches, palaces and noble houses) and almost all of them were built in this style. The Historic Centre is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

We parked the car in the outskirts and wandered in. The first building we came across was the Hospital de Santiago. Its façade looked solemn but the courtyard looked interesting so we wandered in. Later I learnt that this is a very important building that is thought of as the ‘Andalusian Escorial’. Now a busy cultural centre.

As we stopped in Úbeda only for lunch we didn’t have much information about it and instead of going purposefully to visit some sites we just strolled around its lovely streets.

The town is located on a hill. There’s a well-placed viewpoint and from here you can see the rolling hills of olive trees. In fact, the town (and this whole region) is famous for its olive oil.

If you happen to travel around this part of Andalusia, have a look at the nearby Baeza. This place is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site.