The old bats get to Andalucia at last!

A morning in Jaen

We had been promising ourselves a visit to Jaen for years so today's the day! In particular we thought the Arab baths would be interesting to visit. However, rising temperatures made tramping about a city seem less desirable (especially after yesterday's hot walk to Segobriga) so we went straight to the second part of the plan: coffee (yes you wondered when I would mention that, didn't you?) in the Parador, and then a look around Jaen's castle. It only takes 90 minutes to Jaen by road, from La Paz, so a look around the city will be a good day out when the weather's cooler.

Classy coffee?

The road to the Castillo de Santa Catalina winds up to the top of a very "gothick" crag on the southern side of Jaen.

A suitably "castillo" style of architecture for Jaen's parador helps it to blend in with the real castle to its east

Since there doesn't appear to be much in the way of parking for the castillo (surely they don't expect people to walk up the steep road from the town?), the parador's "solo clientes" parking is rather useful. It seemed an excellent idea (at 11 am) to become "clientes" so we wandered in to find the bar/cafeteria .. long, gothic castle-like passages eventually brought us to the catering end of the building ... we hovered... we wandered to where a few late risers were having breakfast and hovered there ... we went back to the bar and hovered ..... rang the bell ... a couple of times..... the two guys turned up, did something similar and before we knew it, a bartender had turned up.... and they got served first of course (gentlemen that they were!!!!) Still we were in no rush and finally got our cortado, con unos magdalenas... that's 4 fairy cakes to you!

Palatial surroundings for coffee. I wanted to find a good adjective comparable to palatial
(for palace) that would fit castle-like surroundings and couldn't come up with anything

A good class of coffee and magdalena;
note the Paradores logo on the serviette holder (also classier than the standard sort) and on the crockery

Fortified, we put the van into hot weather mode (windows on latches, roof light open, sun blinds down) and went up the hill to the castle.

Castillo Santa Catalina - towers, battlements and splendid views

The cobbled path to the castle

Such a nice welcome! Three ladies were sat in the shade on the steps when we got there, enjoying a drink of cold water. One disappeared into the ticket office to take our money and then produced #2 who described the route we should follow on our visit in excellent English. Well done Jaen!

St Catherine's Castle

"The castle played a major role in the battles between Moors and Christians. The castle of Santa Catalina acquired special relevance in the Peninsular War, when it was turned into an important base of operations for Napoleon's troops.. Its excellent location afforded phenomenal views over most of the province, the city of Jaen, and the city's cathedral, in particular.

"Three fortifications made up the old fortress built on top of the hill known as Cerro de Santa Catalina: the Alcazar Viejo (Old fortress), built during the reign of King Alhamar; the Abrehui Castle; and the Alcazar Nuevo (New Fortress), which Fernando III gave orders to build in the 13th century. Of the three, only the latter remains its original structure that is more or less intact, whereas the first two were torn down in teh mid-20th century to build the Parador (a state owned hotel). Currently this parador is considered one of the best castle-hotels in Europe. 

"The castleboasts a Visitor Centre that recreates a large part of its evolution and the history of Jaen. The city offers an opportunity to end a magnificent day with a visit to the cathedral, a crown jewel of the Andalusian Renaissance, the largest Arab Baths in Europe, and the most important collectin of Iberian sculptures, which are exhibited in the Provincial Archaeological Museum."

An introductory video

We started off with a video (in Spanish) about the history of the castle before following the route around the towers and battlements. The original description included a lot of going up towers, so we were pleased to find that the route minimised the climbing!

One of the most important of the castle's towers - the Keep

Ground floor ceiling of the Keep

First floor ceiling in the Keep, with a spiral chandelier.

Plenty of displays to inform visitors about previous uses and occupants of the castle - too many to reproduce! - interspersed with walks along the battlements enjoying amazing views.

The life and times of Teresa de Torres, Countess of Castile in the 15th century

Moorish plasterwork from teh 12th century Almohad palace

Development of Yayyan's (Jaen's) fortresses (Alcazar and Alcazaba), and city (Madinat)

 " 'Yayyan is the city of Al-Andalus with which no other city can be compared in abundance of certral, number of brave soldiers, and the strength and solidity of it walls.' Al-Saqundi.
"So was Jaen called in the Andalusian era. In the middle of the 9th century the emir Abd Al-Rahman II established th capital of the province or Cora in Yayyan, at the moment when the mosque was already being built. Yayyan became a very prosperous city, protected by its strong walls. It possessed abundant springs of water, at least three mosques and five public baths, as well as fertile orchards.
"Historians of the period said of Yayyan that it was a city with 'most courageous men and impregnable', while 'the more times the Christian armies wanted to take it, the farther away they saw it'.
"On the slopes of the Cerro de Santa Catalina was built the citadel, where stood the governor's residence in the city during the times of the Emirate and Caliphate (9th - 10th centuries), separated from the madinat or city by a wall. At the top of the mount the fortress dominated the vast territory.
"The unstable political situation in Al-Andalus between the 11th - 12th centuries, with multiple struggles for power, meant that the governor's residence was moved to the top of the mount in the Old Fortress, which was more protected, with anther defensive enclosure being constructed prior to the Fortress, that known as the Castle of Abrehuf."

The central area was used as a parade ground by Napoleon's troops. Fantastic mountain scenery to the south!

A chapel in one of the towers - St Catherine of course - the wheel is the give-away

Panorama of walls and towers

The almost sheer crags would have made this just about impregnable!

A walkway between inner and outer defences

This walkway leads to the end of the promontory on which the castle is built - and the only place from which you can see the cathedral.

The path to the end of the promontory

View of the town and cathedral (two towers on the far right)

 By the time we got back to Belinda we felt we'd earned our lunch and half an hour with feet up in a shady parking area just down the hill, before carrying on to La Paz. Maybe we will get back there next time we're in Spain and take a look at the Arab Baths!