In the term of Chiclana one of the most significant elements of Iberian culture was found: a solid silver fhibula which, on one side, represents a hunting scene and, on the other, a female deity kneeled by two horses. This piece, together with a set of coins found, constitute what was called "the treasure of Chiclana", dated around the 1st and 2nd centuries BC

In the Roman era there is a proliferation of agricultural settlements in the term, villas, including the Calar de la Mucha.

Chiclana will be conquered by Fernando III around 1235. The king gave it to the Order of Santiago, becoming the head of the Santiaguista commission of Montizón-Chiclana. And for many years I would be his co-ordinator the warrior-poet Jorge Manriquewho was one of the 13 knights leading the Order of Santiago.

From the beginning of the contemporary era to point out two facts: the destruction caused by the Napoleonic troops in 1811 and the frequent running that the supporters carried out in the framework of the First Carlist War, they raided these lands in 1838.

The population belonged to the Kingdom of Toledo and the Order of Santiago until the disappearance of the Military Orders in the 19th century. He would then become dependent on the Beas de Segura Abbey, the Segura de la Sierra party, so he added the "Segura" to his traditional name.

Legend of the Virgin of Nazareth and the Christ of Expiration.Here we reflect a legend that is rooted in the population:

It tells the popular voice that when the sale of the saints belonged to Chiclana, both the chiclaneros and the veners, they celebrated the Romeria together in honor of the Virgin of Nazareth and the Christ of the Expiration in a place called the "Cortijillo de la Virgen". When King Charles III promulgated the Fuero de las Nuevos Poblaciones de Sierra Morena in 1767, the new population of Montizon, to which it was to belong Venta de los Santos, there was a conflict between the parishioners to determine who would be left with the beautiful Gothic image of the Virgin of Nazareth.

In the dispute the bishop will intervene, who decides to draw both images, wanting the chance that the image of the Virgin would correspond to the Sale of Saints, while that of the Christ to Chiclana.

The legend tells us that when the children of both populations went to raise the images that had been in their luck, they could not raise them from their weight. They decided to change the carrier's bands and the venters were able to lift the image of Christ and the chiclaners that of the Virgin of Nazareth, which was interpreted as a divine plan that the Virgin of Nazareth should be from Chiclana.

Beas de Segura is a villa full of history. Their occupation is documented from the Lower Paleolithic. It was in Roman times that Beas was consolidated as an urban core. From that time there are many tracks, such as villas, streets or the emblematic Mocho Bridge.

During the Islamic period, the stage of the highest splendor of Beas was reached in the time of Abdeleran III where it was part of the great district of the Alpujarra and Elvira. From that time it was its fortified enclosure, now already missing. Fernando III conquered Beas between 1224 and 1227 by joining her in the Crown of Castile, giving as an award to his Chancellor Don Juan, Bishop of Osma, the castle and the Villa of Beas, and this in turn the exchange with the Master of Santiago in exchange for inheritance. The title of Villa and other privileges received it in 1239, and in the 16th century, according to the Topographic Relations of Philip II, Beas appears as a flourishing economic center in the area of Segura, with a strong agricultural activity.

After the Reconquista was first included in the territorial demarcation of Toledo and within the Order of Santiago's Order, then passed to the Dependence of the Governor of Segura. Thus he was part of the Segura Common and all his territory was governed by the Ordinances. It was a crossroads of roads, hence its primitive name of Veha (way or way). Here are the three Roman tracks that were heading for the mountains, the Levante and El Condado.

At present, Beas is one of the main economic centres of the Sierra de Segura, whose region presupposes pride despite the fact that in the past it did not belong to the Segura Encomandación. Through the Beas River, the town is on horseback between the Sierra de Segura and the lands of El Condado and Sierra Morena. Beas de Segura offers the traveller a legacy impregnated in history, as demonstrated by the 35 archaeological sites located in its term.

The oldest pieces, including those of the Mocchio Bridge, are preserved in the archaeological section of the Provincial Museum. Beas is one of the doors of the Natural Park of the Sierras de Cazorla, Segura and Las Villas and an excellent starting point for entering the interior of these majestic lands.

Before, the traveller can walk his urban town, between narrow and tortuous streets that bear witness to a rich medieval and historical architecture of the late 19th century, such as Ángel Uceda Street and the building of the Old Carniceria. However, his main monumental claim is the Convent of the Descalzas Carmelites, which Saint Teresa of Jesus founded in houses owned by Catherine Maria de Sandoval and Godínez.

In a Renaissance style, the convent has a baroque cover and is structured with the classic half-point arch on imposts, with mensula in the key and rosettes. On the friso with triglyphs there is a split fronton and shields that frame the pilasters and bake with San José and El Niño. On the niche, the shield of the Order. A large triangular front and pinnacles kill the facade.

Atalaya over the Guadalquivir valley, its alcázar assured the Spanish rear in the constant threat of the Islamic kingdoms located to the west and south of Guadalquivir.

Baeza is now known for its olive production, its abundant monumental legacy (declared World Heritage by Unesco in 2003) and for hosting the International University of Andalusia.

Its main economic activity is agriculture, linked to the olive and the olive industry, although monumental tourism has developed the activity of the hotel.

Its churches, palaces and towers are a monumental set in which the different architectural styles take place, although the Renaissance and the Gothic isabelin are of particular importance. From its rich architectural heritage, it stands out the cathedral (16th century), the church of Santa Cruz (13th century), the convent of San Francisco, the City Hall and the church of San Andrés, all of the 16th century.

In short, the historic centre of Baeza is one of the most important monumental ensembles of the world renaissance.

Culture

To understand today's Baeza, we have to go back to the first inhabitants who settled in the place known as the Alcázar hill, in the Bronze Age, evolving to the Iberian city Viatia or Vivatia, passing to the Roman era, when Biatia was one of the most important cities.

It would be the Muslims who made up the city's murary limits, some of which were remade in the 16th century. After the Christian conquest the epoch of splendor of Baeza begins. The new Christian Baeza begins to grow out of the world, where religious buildings are the most representative.

• The Cathedral. It is the most representative building in the square. In this enclave there could have been a Roman temple, over which Muslims raise a mosque and, in 1227, under the Marian advocation of the "Nativity", the cathedralicia headquarters is erected. In the 16th century, a reform is carried out, which will be the one that prints the Vandelvirian Renaissance seal to the building. The cover was drawn in 1587 by Juan Bautista Villalpando with "relief of the Nativity of the Virgin." The base of the tower is believed to be the mosque's miner, adding in time of Vandelvira the body of the bells and the deck.
• Church of Santa Cruz. This work dates from 13th century, of late Romanesque style and preserved after the Christian conquest. The exterior is austere, highlighting its two covers with half-point arquivolts. The interior consists of three ships.
• Ruins of the convent of San Francisco(extracamides). This work could have been one of the most important of the Andalusian Renaissance, but a number of misfortunes have prevented it, among these, the Lisbon earthquake of 1775 that brought down the vault of the major chapel. In this funeral and conventual complex, Vandelvira developed all its genius. The Latin cross church, which is accessed by a half-point arch that frames the entire cover, still remains with the relief of San Francisco and a tondo with the Virgin, which now give way to a large auditorium.
• Old House of Correction and Prison, current City Hall(extracamides). It was built in 1520 as a prison at the request of Charles I. Since 1867 it has been home to the City Council. It is composed of the prison, with a more sober cover on which Justice and Charity are represented, and the house of the corridor with rich silver decoration. On the upper floor we find tripartite balconies with the shields of Philip II, the corridor and the city. It is topped with cornice decorated with membranes highlighted with figures. The Salon de Plenos has a Renaissance potter (horizontal and intertwined wooden ceiling) from the convent of San Antonio.
• Church of St. Andrew. Building from the early 16th century, which held the title of a schoolgirl from 1764 to 1852. The silver-style cover, next to the square tower, stands out. The interior is a large main ship made up of arches pointed with side chapels.
• Jabalfifth Palace.In front of the church of Santa Cruz, the Jabalfifth palace, one of the highest exponents of the isabelin Gothic style, was built in the late 15th century. The isabelin Gothic We find it on the outside, with decoration based on diamond tips, pineapple nails, fronts, florons, ties, pinacles, mocaronas and heraldic shields. The facade it is overcome with five arches of half-point Renaissance period, as well as the courtyard of the late 16th century. Today it is the seat of the Antonio Machado International University.
• The St. Mary's Square, Baezan monumental heart, concentrates the largest number of monuments: the cathedral, the conistorial houses, the fountain of Saint Mary; the seminary of St. Philip Neri, with its picturesque facade plagued with cheers, current headquarters of the International University of Andalusia or the house-palace of Rubin de Ceballos, behind the cathedral.
• The Populo Square, framed by the door of Jaén and the arch of Villalar, is one of the most emblematic squares of the city, where we find the plateresque cover building of the old Escribanías, today the headquarters of the tourist office of the Junta de Andalucía, the old Carnicerías and the source of the Lions in the center.
   

Nature

Baeza is located in a dominant place in the region of the Loma and on the right bank of the Guadalquivir River. The city is located on three hills and the small valley that remain in the middle, in a rather high position over the Guadalquivir valley, a situation conducive to being a very important square in ancient times. It is surrounded by the Guadalquivir rivers to the south and Guadalimar to the north.

A site that as we walk through the walls allows us to contemplate the immense sea of olive trees that is presented to us all around us. From the sights of this walk, you can see the beautiful picture of the Guadalquivir valley, the extensive olive trees, the Cazorla saw, the Segura and Sierra Mágina saw, with the villages of Jimena, Mancha Real, Bedmar and Garciez in the distance.

The predominant vegetation is the olive tree, but next to the river and the lagoon Grande we find what we call the gallery forest: white, mimberas, tarais, black, and other species of bushes. A vegetation that with the change of the seasons draw a color brush in the landscape, especially in the autumn season.

The fauna of the town is the one of the Jienese countryside: hares, rabbits, deer, foxes, parrots, quail... They are also easy to see the storks and a wide variety of prey birds. Without forgetting the fauna that lives next to the river line and in the vicinity of the lagoon Grande.

The absence of non-agricultural land reduces areas of natural interest to the river margins and to the wetlands of the Great Lagoon with a special ecological interest.

• Laguna Grande: This permanent lagoon that suffers significant level fluctuations, is fed from the Torres River through irrigation channels. Precisely for maintaining water during summers, this wetland is particularly important for waterbirds, it is an ideal place for food and shelter. Around the water, in addition to the vegetation of carrizos, spadañas and juncos stands out the presence of tarajes, alamos, fresnos and zarzas, where there is plenty of the visitor and I shelter the fauna of the place, among which we can mention: common fence, real anade or common porron, highlighting the fly bird, where we can see the nests of this small bird, hanging from the trees of this natural place. The locals of both the Bishop's Bridge and Baeza are willing to visit this beautiful natural site.

Celebrations and Events

Among the parties with the most roots among the neighbors of Baeza, we highlight:

• La Candelariaon February 2. On the eve of the feast of the Holy One celebrates the Candelaria, typical of the blessing of the donuts of Saint Blas, protector of the throat, in the parish of El Salvador.
• Holy Week. Between Andalusian and Spanish, the Holy Week of Baeza, declared of National Tourist Interest, stands out for the artistic richness of its steps. About 20 cofradies process through its streets and squares, in this jewel of the Andalusian Renaissance. Its creation dates back to the 16th century, when the co-fradia of the Vera Cruz, one of the oldest in Andalusia and Spain, emerged. One of the most beautiful moments of Baezan Holy Week, occurs on the morning of Good Friday, with the departure of the fellowship of Our Father Jesus Nazarene and the Cross of St. Helena, better known by the name "El Paso"; when the Nazarene Christ gives the blessing to his mother, through an articulated mechanism, when the images are crossed.
• May CrossesMay 1. In different plazoletas and neighborhoods of the old town, altars are covered with the only theme of the exaltation of the Holy Cross.
• Annual city fair. It is celebrated on August 15, the feast of its patron saint, Santa María del Alcázar.
• Romeria de la Yedra. It is celebrated around the feast of the Nativity of the Virgin (8 September).
• The Yedra, a pastry of Baeza, located 7 km. to the north of this, and where there is the Marian sanctuary of Our Lady of the Rosel and the Holy Christ of the Yedra. The Romeria itself is celebrated on Saturday day 7, the day when the Virgin travels through the city of Baeza and goes back to her shrine of La Yedra, accompanied by horses, carriages, reels and carrots, all covered with flowers.
• Corpus Christi. With reminiscent of the 15th and 16th centuries. Procedural custody is certainly the goldsmiths of the city.

The annual calendar of celebrations is completed with the festivities of San Isidro Labrador, the pattern of farmers, Saint Christopher, pattern of the driving industry,Our Lady of Carmen and Council parties of Baeza in honor of San Andrés.

Gastronomy

The gastronomic culture is based on its history and geography. In many of its dishes you can find cultivated influences of Roman, Jewish, Islamic, Moorish and Mudejar cuisine.

The traditional cuisine is merged with the seasons and with the festivities, as well as the basic raw materials of the earth and all irrigated with the liquid gold of the olive fields of Baeza.

Among the indigenous dishes are:

• The orza loin. It is a typical dish of the slaughter, which is used as a preservative, frying the fresh back on a slow heat in its own butter to which different spices, nails, cinnamon, pepper... are added... and then introduced into the orza. It is also done with the chorizos of the slaughter and thus are preserved all winter.
• Cod to the baezan. In a saffrito of onion, tomato, peas and roasted peppers made from strips, you will add the already fried cod.
• Pipirrana. In which peppers, tomatoes, garlic, onions and olive oil are used. A refreshing dish that can't be missed in summer.
• Andrajos. Red pepper, green pepper, onion, garlic, laurel, olive oil, pepper, white wine, vegetables and hare or rabbit. All flavoured with peppermint. For the dough, flour and water.
• "Sick-cooked"or" dizzy chickpeas, "a dish that tries to take advantage of the remains of another meal. In a pan with oil we chopped onion and added the chickpeas, which when mixed with the spoon are broken. It is added fried tomato and eggs that are mixed and cut.
• "Eyes." or "Masoil". It consists of a bread of extra virgin oil, pepper and anise. The name comes from being the eighth part of the mass of a bread.

Warehouse:

• Virolos, typical pebbles.
• Butter cakes with nuts.
• Torrijas, a way to take advantage of the bread left over.
• Fried milk: It's about bounced and fried milk.
• Papajotes, It's a frying pan. A mass of fried flour and bounced with sugar and cinnamon.
• Oil ice cream, with milk, sugar, egg yolks and oil ingredients.

History

It's in the Copper age, 3rd millennium BC, when they appear the first villages. Most of them were walled and their economy was based on agriculture and livestock.

In the Iberian period, 7th century BC, the hill of the Alcázar is considered a consolidated town.

During the 2nd and 1st centuries BC, in full Roman Empire, appears in several sources as Vivatia or Biatia. It acquires great importance due to its location, as it is a mandatory step on the commercial route Catulo - Málaga.

The territory of Biatia would be occupied in the second decade of the eighth century by Muslim troops. This time the city is known as Bayyasa.

Christian kings will take the city and lose it again on several occasions. But it will be Fernando III "the Holy One" who finally conquered it in 1227, and considered it as a bridge head in the reconquest of Al-Andalus, for this reason it is given to the city of privileges and a court, the "Fuero de Cuenca."

The presence of the Catholic Church is restored, establishing in Baeza the episcopal seat in the 13th century. From this date on, the most important religious and conventual orders were present in the city.

It will be in the 16th century when Baeza reaches its maximum architectural splendor with the foundation of the University, among other public buildings of interest. The apogee will continue in the 17th century, is the century of the greatest conventional apogee.

The 18th century will be of decline. With the war of Baeza Independence, he suffers considerable human and economic losses. Excessive demands and contributions would also help. The deamortization of Mendizábal, which brought the disappearance of the convents, was very remarkable.

The mainly agricultural economy, increases production and increases the area dedicated to olive trees to the detriment of other arable crops.

In 1966Baeza was declared "Historical-Artistic Set", which was a take-off in tourism services, increased by the Declaration in 2003 by UNESCO, in Baeza as World Heritage.

University tradition is recovering with headquarters Antonio Machado of the International University of Andalusia.
 

In Archaeological Museum of Arjona, opened in 2012, we can observe more than 3,000 pieces found at the end of the town and ranging from the fossil remains to pieces related to modern archaeology. Visiting this museum will be a extraordinary lesson of the History of Arjona and the different peoples and cultures that have passed through this town.

Of the three rooms that make up the museum the first of them is dedicated to the Prehistory, where we can find material remains of the Paleolithic, Neolithic, Calcolytic and the Age of Metals. Among these remains are: Protro-Bifaces to argaric arrows of the type "Palmeta," made at the time of the Metals.

We also find the reconstruction of a Paleolithic cave and a Neolithic cabin, they become the didactic bet of this first room.

In the second room, dedicated to history, shows us some epigraphic remains Iberians, Romans and Muslims. Another type of ceramic utensils are added, in glass and marble that make this room the most complete of the Museum.

Arjona corresponds to the old Urgavo or Urgao Alba, from Roman times. After Caesar's victory in Monda (year 45 BC), Urgabo received a privileged legal status for his support to the cesarian side, as well as Lliturgi, Isturgi and Obulco.

Important epigraphic remains have been found that demonstrate the importance of the city in the imperial high time, together with the existence of temples dedicated to Augustus and Plotina, wife of Trajano.

After the conquest Muslim becomes called Oal'at Aryuna, controlled by the family Bann Bayila. After the fall of the Califate of Córdoba, the city participated in the inner struggles of the period of taifles, a time when the walls are reinforced.

Here he was born in 1149, Mohamed ibn Yusuf ibn Nâzar, known by the name of Alhamar (the Red), first futureKing Nazarí of Granada. He was born in the alcázar where today the San Miguel hospital rises. It preserves the ruins of a medieval castle. With the Christian conquest carried out by Fernando III, In 1244, the city was besieged and destroyed.

In 1430, King John II gave it to D. Fabrique de Castro with the title of ducacy. Four years later it would be sold to the constable Mr Alvaro de Luna. In Year 1891Get it. the city title. The third of the rooms is dedicated to the illustrious characters of the History of Arjona: King Alhamar and Helvia Paulina. The room is covered with a collection of audiovisual services that aim to make known the history of the city of Arjona to the visitor. An excellent way to make the history of the city of Arjona known in a friendly and well-founded way.

Andújar is in a privileged situation because it is a crossroads of commercial routes and roads for the displacement of populations, that would explain the penetration of artistic and cultural influences from different backgrounds. The proximity of the Guadalquivir River will be an incentive to the settlements of the populations. The oldest remains found date from the Paleolithic, but it is in the Neolithic and first part of the Bronze Age that the population of the area is intensified, for its fertile land for the development of agriculture and mining in Sierra Morena. The first people to settle would be the Oretans, the Iberians who founded the ancient Isturgi in the place that today occupies the pedany of Los Villares de Andújar.

Everything indicates that it was a flourishing city during the Roman domain, linked to the production and marketing of the high-imperial ceramic (I-II centuries). At the end of Roman rule, the population moved to a nearby place, the current Andújar, losing the name of Isturgi with the arrival of the island.In the year 711, after the battle of Guadalete, the entire southern area of the peninsula would become al-Ándalus. Moving the population from Los Villares to the current Andújar.

In 1225, the city is conquered by Fernando III, the Holythe Christian troops of the orders of Santiago and Calatrava to settle in the city. The Muslim population leaves the cities of Andújar, Martos and Baeza, the first Christian inhabitants being settled.King Henry IV, in 1467, gives him the title of city. This would begin with a period of population growth and an increase in agricultural land, reaching 13,000 by the end of the 16th century. The population is mainly made up of farmers and farmers.

In 1808 he will be occupied by French troops, where General Dupont established his headquarters. From here he would send his troops to Bailén, a battle in which he would be defeated. During the Spanish civil war, Andújar was left on the Republican side, which meant that he was bombed by the Franco troops, causing death and resentment on both sides.

Today, the city of Andújar continues to have a part of its population occupied in the agricultural sector, it also has modern industries, and the tourism sector is making way to make known its rich artistic and natural heritage, which makes it able to face its future with optimism.