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Literary route of Antonio Muñoz Molina
Breve descripción
Follow in the footsteps of Muñoz Molina and discover the city that inspires his stories of light, time, and emotion.
The Antonio Muñoz Molina Literary Route invites you to explore Úbeda through the intimate and profound eyes of one of Spain's great writers. The author of *The Polish Rider* transforms his city into a territory where reality and fiction intertwine to construct a unique universe filled with memory, history, and emotion.
As you stroll through Úbeda, you delve into the settings that shaped his childhood and youth, and which remain alive today in novels such as *Beatus Ille* and *Plenilunio*. Each stop you make is a fragment of that sentimental map, which the author transforms into literature.
In the Sacra Capilla de El Salvador, with its "Juancaballos" carved in stone, you discover the first clue to a route that unites Renaissance heritage and literary evocation. From there, you continue towards the Monument to the Fallen, the Clock Tower, or the House of Towers, spaces that Muñoz Molina transforms into symbols of identity and collective memory.
The San Lorenzo neighborhood, with its cobblestone streets, viewpoints, and white houses, becomes the emotional heart of the route. Here you'll find the author's family home, a place that appears repeatedly in his novels as a refuge from which to contemplate the world. Nearby, the Orozco Palace and the Church of San Isidoro complete an itinerary where architecture and literature engage in a natural dialogue. The Mercado de Abastos (Central Market), the viewpoints along the city walls, and other everyday corners of Úbeda reveal the writer's more human side: daily life, trades, the landscapes of the Guadalquivir Valley, and the memory of a city that becomes a universal metaphor. This route is not just a monumental tour: it is an invitation to discover Úbeda through the sensibility of Muñoz Molina, to view its squares, palaces, and neighborhoods with the same blend of nostalgia, lucidity, and beauty that permeates his work. A journey where literature illuminates the landscape, and the landscape shapes literature.
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Route card
Úbeda
Sacra Capilla de El Salvador (Juancaballos): Renaissance façade featuring the “juancaballos,” mythical creatures revived by the author.
Sculpture to the Fallen: In the Town Hall Square. A space mentioned in several of the writer's works.
San Lorenzo Neighborhood: The emotional heart of his literature: cobblestone streets, viewpoints, the Church of San Lorenzo, the Granada Gate, and the Cava Gardens.
Antonio Muñoz Molina's Residence: The author's family home, located in the neighborhood square. It appears in The Polish Rider.
Casa de las Torres: A palace-fortress that houses the School of Arts. A key setting in The Polish Rider and in the legend of “the walled-up woman.”
Orozco Palace: The only 19th-century palace in Úbeda. A central space in Beatus Ille.
Clock Tower: An old Moorish tower converted into a clock in the 16th century. A symbol of the city and a recurring literary location.
Statue of General Orduña: A historical figure linked to Úbeda and mentioned in the author's work.
Church of San Isidoro: A setting recreated in The Polish Rider, full of atmosphere and characters.
Central Market: An everyday and symbolic place in The Polish Rider, where the protagonist's father worked.
Viewpoints along the city walls: Lookouts from which the Guadalquivir Valley can be seen. An essential landscape in his memory and literature.
Juan Eslava Galán Literary Route
Breve descripción
Arjona is the birthplace of a storyteller who transformed Jaén into a land of legends.
Following the path of Juan Eslava Galán means discovering Jaén through the eyes of one of its greatest storytellers. Born in Arjona, the writer has made the province a recurring setting for his novels, where history, mystery, and landscape intertwine seamlessly.
In Arjona, his hometown, you'll wander through squares, churches, and hidden corners that inspired many of his works. From the ancient Alcázar to the Sanctuary of the Sacred Relics, each stop reveals fragments of a past that Eslava Galán brings to life with humor, rigor, and fascination.
His books—from *In Search of the Unicorn* to *The Templar Tombstone*—take you on a journey through Martos, Baeza, Jaén, Alcaudete, Baños de la Encina, and Úbeda, places that come alive with Templar enigmas, medieval adventures, and local legends.
This route is, in essence, a bridge between literature and the land, allowing you to enjoy the province with a curious and engaging perspective.
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Arjona
Plaza de Santa María: A natural viewpoint overlooking the Jaén countryside, where the ancient Alcázar of Aryuna still reveals its imposing outer wall. It is the perfect starting point for the tour: spacious, bright, and steeped in history. Eslava Galán describes it with the precision of someone who knows every stone, and the traveler can contemplate it with the same fascination.
Sanctuary of the Sacred Relics: A 17th-century Neoclassical temple that incorporates the ashlars of the old Mocha Tower. Its monumental staircase and Baroque crypt surprise visitors, who discover here a solemn space full of symbolism.
Church of Santa María del Alcázar: Majestic and austere, it rises above the former Great Mosque. Hidden on one of its facades is the famous Templar Baphomet, an enigmatic face carved in stone that seems to observe the traveler and plays a key role in The Templar Tombstone.
Templar Baphomet: A sculptural detail that sparks the imagination: forked beard, double profiles, Templar mystery. A must-see for lovers of legends.
Juan Eslava Galán Museum of Arts and Customs: Located in the former Hospital of San Miguel, this museum not only exhibits ethnographic pieces but also preserves part of the writer's personal world, including the table where he wrote In Search of the Unicorn. An intimate place, perfect for understanding his creative process.
Almohad Cistern:The oldest building in Arjona, hidden beneath the old mosque. Its vaults and alabaster pedestals transport the traveler to the medieval era, evoking the daily life of ancient Aryuna.
Church of San Juan Bautista: Built on the site of an ancient Roman temple and later a synagogue, this church is a crossroads of cultures. Its Plateresque façade and octagonal tower are architectural gems that surprise visitors.
Crypt of the Baron of Velasco:A Neo-Byzantine space of golden tesserae, marble sculptures, and an ingenious system of rails to access the niches. A place so unique it seems straight out of a mystery novel.
Arjona Town Hall: A 19th-century Andalusian house that Eslava Galán describes in detail: a bright courtyard, columns, tiled wainscoting, and marble staircases. Visitors can recognize in this building the atmosphere that the author recreates in his works.
The Templar Tombstone: The element that gives the novel its title appears in an unexpected place, revealed in the final section of the book. The route allows visitors to discover this exact spot, adding excitement to the journey.
Juan Eslava's Literary Corner: In the Municipal Library, this space brings together all his works, many signed, along with his work table and typewriter. An intimate corner for those who wish to connect with the writer beyond his books.
Jaén
Basilica of San Ildefonso:Site of the miracle of the Descent of the Virgin in 1430. A key location in the devotion of Jaén and in the author's historical narrative.
Church of La Magdalena: Former main mosque. The neighborhood, the fountain, and the lizard are recurring literary devices in his work.
Institute of Jaén Studies (IEG): Home to the author's personal archive: more than 8,000 documents, books, and files.
Castle of Santa Catalina: Emblem of Jaén. Medieval fortress and privileged viewpoint that appears in his historical essays.
The Lizard of La Malena: The most famous legend of Jaén. A literary and cultural symbol frequently used by Eslava Galán.
Arab Baths Cultural Center – Villardompardo Palace: 11th-century Arab baths, the largest open to the public in Spain. A recurring historical setting in his popular works.
Arrabalejo Tavern: Mentioned in In Search of the Unicorn. A place steeped in popular tradition and culinary memory.
Arch of San Lorenzo: A 13th-century Gothic-Mudéjar vestige. A space steeped in history that inspires the author.
Palace of the Constable Iranzo:Direct setting in *In Search of the Unicorn*. It preserves a magnificent Mudéjar hall.
San Francisco Square:An emblematic place in the city. The Templar chapel of the old convent was located beneath it.
“El Gorrión” Tavern:Founded in 1888. It appears in his works and preserves the famous “mummified ham”.
Maestra Street:Historic thoroughfare of the old town. Setting in *In Search of the Unicorn*.
Bernabé Soriano Street (La Carrera):Site of ancient horse races mentioned in his Planeta Prize-winning novel.
Puente Tablas:Iberian oppidum of great archaeological value. Eslava Galán incorporates it into his historical narrative.
Santa María Square – Jaén Cathedral:The Cathedral is masterfully described in The Templars and the Table of Solomon.
Miguel Hernández Literary Route
Breve descripción
A journey to encounter Miguel Hernández in the places where his words became life
Arriving in Jaén, following in the footsteps of Miguel Hernández, means immersing yourself in one of the most intense and luminous chapters of his life, even with the shadow of war surrounding it. The people's poet, barely thirty years old and with overflowing creative energy, found in these lands a human and natural landscape that left a profound mark on his work and his memory.
His stay was brief—only seventy-two days—but extraordinarily fruitful. Here he wrote some of his most vibrant texts, among them "Aceituneros," which has become the anthem of the province. In Jaén, you don't just observe the land he contemplated: you listen to it, you walk it, you feel it in your skin. And that emotion connects with the verses that still resonate in the identity of Jaén.
Assigned as commissioner of the Southern Front's public address system, Miguel traveled through streets, squares, and shelters, living among the people and narrating from within the most harrowing episodes of the conflict. Following his trail, you travel from the capital to Andújar or Lopera and discover the young and committed perspective that bore witness to a turbulent time, but also to a humanity forging its path amidst the noise of war.
Today, as you walk this route, you will find a Jaén that speaks to you and to history: squares that bear scars, shelters that hold silences, thermal baths where the poet strolled with Josefina Manresa, and corners where his clear and courageous voice still seems to echo. It is a journey that invites you to pause, to look calmly, and to feel how literature intertwines with the land.
Miguel Hernández Legacy Website
https://www.dipujaen.es/miguelhernandez
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Route card
Jaén
Basilica of San Ildefonso: Façade with shrapnel damage; a key point for understanding the poet's arrival in Jaén.
Poet's Residence and Headquarters of the Altavoz del Frente Sur (Voice of the Southern Front): On Llana Street (now Francisco Coello, 9). Here he lived with Josefina Manresa and worked as commissioner of the Altavoz del Frente Sur.
Plaza de Santa María (Jaén Cathedral): A space from which his perspective on the bombing of Jaén, reflected in his articles for Frente Sur, can be understood.
Plaza de los Naranjos (Orange Tree Square): The only place with a ceramic plaque dedicated to the poet, featuring verses from El último rincón (The Last Corner).
Air Raid Shelter in Plaza de Santiago: Built after the 1937 bombing; it allows us to understand the wartime context in which the poet lived.
Institute of Jaén Studies (IEG): It houses the Miguel Hernández Legacy, with thousands of documents, manuscripts, and images.
Jabalcuz Hot Springs: A place where Miguel Hernández used to go for walks and bathe with Josefina Manresa.
Quesada
Miguel Hernández – Josefina Manresa Museum: The central space of the route in Quesada. It brings together a large part of the legacy of the poet and Josefina Manresa, with a chronological journey through their life, work, and human and social dimension.
Hernandian Corners: The historic center of Quesada becomes a literary stroll: narrow streets, white facades, and mosaics with verses, drawings, and texts by Miguel Hernández and Josefina Manresa. A vibrant and poetic way to explore the town.
Miguel Hernández Panels and Mosaics: Distributed throughout the municipality, especially in the Plaza de la Constitución, where large mosaics highlight the poet and Josefina's connection to Quesada.
Josefina Manresa's Birthplace: The house where Josefina was born on January 2, 1916. It is not open to the public, but it retains a ceramic plaque marking the location and its importance to local history.
Lopera
Longitud del recorrido: 3km.
Duración estimada: 4h.
Tipo de ruta: A pie y en coche.
Lugares que componen la ruta:
Andújar
Sanctuary of the Virgin of La Cabeza was the scene of a fierce siege during the Spanish Civil War. Miguel Hernández, assigned to the Southern Front's propaganda unit, described the assault in his chronicles, narrating in detail the resistance that took place between September 1936 and May 1937. Photographs exist that confirm the poet's presence; some show him addressing the troops and others at the Republican command post.
This firsthand experience allowed him to accurately narrate the development of the siege, as he explains in On the Taking of La Cabeza. Letter and clarification, published in Frente Sur (no. 15, May 13, 1937): “I witnessed the fighting from the very beginning, although without pencil or paper… I prefer to relive it by remembering it.”
This passage reveals the poet in his most committed role: witness, chronicler, and emotional participant in one of the harshest episodes of the Civil War in Jaén.
