Ubeda and Baeza - The Renaissance Cities

Ubeda And Baeza
We took the Peugeot for a drive today through scenic countryside, hills gently splayed to the horizon filled with neat lines of olive orchards spreading to eternity. Jaen Province provides 10% of the world’s olive oil.

Our two hour drive to Ubeda was pleasant. Once there, we were rewarded with a visit to the first of the Renaissance Cities, a well-maintained medieval district highlighted by the architecture of the area’s maestro Andres de Vandelvira and its centerpiece the Iglesia de San Pablo.

The area exuded a sense of calm and we felt that we had the whole place to ourselves unlike many of the more tourist-centered sites we have visited thus far.
A short drive took us to Baeza, the smallest and “brightest gem” of the Renaissance triangle (which also includes Jaen). Large limestone blocks are the primary architectural medium and are the building blocks for the Cathedral de Santa Maria.
Later we were introduced to a distant view of the splendor of the Sierra Nevada Mountain range which today was mostly cloaked in mist. Snow-capped peaks occasionally revealed themselves to give us a taste of what we might expect on the last leg of our journey starting tomorrow when we will make our way to our house in the mountains.