Ubeda, Spain's World Heritage City
Ubeda Renaissance City Boasts Flamenco, Palaces and Cutwork Pottery
Ubeda, world heritage city of fine Renaissance architecture in Jaen, Spain. Take in the array of monuments and stay in the 16th century palace - now the Parador de Ubeda
Ubeda is the geographical centre of Jaen Province, and the renowned Renaissance capital of Spain, its main plaza belying a modern, sprawling agricultural town with a medieval heart . Visit in the autumn when the summer heat and bustle changes to a tranquil calm, a change reflected in the nearby Sierra de Cazorla.
By contrast, its annual Music and Dance Festival is held in May/June each year and attracts big names from flamenco, rock, opera, ballet, jazz and blues. The tourist office can give you the dates, which vary slightly each year.
With the oncoming of winter the town livens up again for the annual olive harvest, but that life happens after the days gathering of the black olive fruits. Not surprisingly the local gastronomy is based on olive oil and local fish and game from the nearby Sierra de Cazorla.
Fly into Granada airport or into Madrid for a 4 hour train trip to Linares-Baeza, which is about 15 km from Ubeda. Malaga is a 3-hour drive by car and not an easy trip by train. Once in your hotel in the old town you have no need of a car for the weekend, unless you want to explore the nearby Sierras, but that’s really a trip of its own. Stay in Ubeda town and take your pick of the fifty or so monuments there are to visit, stroll around, take a carriage or the tourist train with a guide.
For a regal stay it has to be the best place in town, the 4* Parador de Ubeda “Condestable Davalos,” a 16th-century palace. Next to the ornate Sacra Capilla de el Salvador it’s a rather boring classical frontage, but even if you choose not to stay here you must go into the bar to see the beautiful patio with its double gallery. Used as a parador since 1929, it's recently been remodelled. Ask for one of the six rooms that overlook the main plaza for a real room with a view.
For a quirky stay outside the medieval centre the Museo de Agricola is also a restaurant with rooms. The outside is covered in agricultural implements and if you like clutter and bygones it's a great individual stay.
Hotel Afan de Rivera in the heart of the historical part of town is a superb stay. It's a newly restored inn with just 5 guestrooms all uniquely and sympathetically designed, charming and welcoming. Behind El Salvador and past the Hospital de los Honorados Viejos del Salavador another of Vandelvira’s works, Ubeda looks over the olive groves,to the mountains of the Sierra Cazorla.
Beautiful deep green cut-work pottery dating back to the Moorish times is the emblem of Ubeda, so visit the most famous potter, Alfareria Tito Paco. Head out of the old town through the Puerta del Losal gateway, and you’ll stumble across the pottery.
Take a look at Jaen City the provincial captial.
