In the Arab era, Villanueva del Archbishop, was one of the fortresses that reinforced the village of Iznatoraf. It was a village like a few inhabitants, called "La Moraleja." The Arabs who lived in those places chose it as a leisure area, where horse races were organized and the artisans set up their workshops.

After the conquest by Fernando III of Iznatoraf, the village of "La Moraleja" was donated by the king, in the early 13th century, to Cazorla's advance.

The town as such in 1396, thanks to the request made by the Archbishop of Toledo to King Henry III, who granted him a Letter from Privilegio which is preserved in the Town Hall of the Villa. By this Charter the city was founded with all the privileges possible at that time: market, police and cessation of the payment of taxes to Iznatoraf. But an obligation was imposed on him: to lift a wall with two doors and to close the city in five years.

The municipality became the most important core of Señorío de Cazorlawith several flour mills on the Guadalquivir River.

Miguel de Cervantes lived for some time in this village as a tax collector.
Why did the municipality get this name? Villa, for the title given; new, because until that moment it did not exist as such and Archbishopin honor of Mr Pedro Tenorio, who was called the ecclesiastical office.

The city was moving forward and Philip II granted him criminal jurisdiction in 1573.

During War of IndependenceThe people became a refuge for guerrillas who harassed the French troops. As a result of these events, some convents were damaged and the Charter of Privilegio disappeared. After many years she appeared in Linares, she was restored and kept well guarded in the City Hall because she is the oldest document we have.

In 1920 he received the title of City from King Alfonso XIII.

In the municipal term of Vilches, about a hundred archaeological sites have been invented. From the Copper age the field of Santagon. The occupation of this settlement had to end at the beginning of the Bronze Age, when the consolidation of metallurgical activity and the fertility of the surrounding lands involved the emergence of small villages in the area, some of them fortified, such as the Cañada de Malaguo, Giribola or Cerro Santo. This settlement has the novelty of having a large defensive tower.

In the Iberian stage, GiridanceThe metallurgical centers were controlled from here. The town has an urban layout defined by streets, houses and public areas, delimited by a large wall. From this Iberian period, many settlements and small fortifications have been invented, including the first occupation of the castle hill.

In the Roman times Vilches is identified as BaesucciAccording to a stone located on the hill of the castle. The Emperor Vespasian granted him the title of municipality. In Santagon, remains of ancient villas with mosaics have been found in the noble areas.

Also the people Visigode He settled in Vilches. A visigode architrabe has been found and is preserved in the Jaén Provincial Museum.

It's in the Islamic period when the current Vilches site is consolidated, being occupied from 711. It was part of al- Andalus for five centuries, from the first years of the 8th to the 13th century. This long period makes Vilches a typical Muslim cityfrom which we can guess vestiges today. As the 12th century progressed, the castle of Vilches became very vulnerable by the proximity to Despeñacolos, where the Spanish-Latvian troops practiced acts of harassment over the possessions of al- Andalus.

In 1212, the Christian kings of Castile, Aragon and Navarra, beat the Muslims in the the battle of the ships of Tolosa. Three days later, the castle is conquered and the population exterminated, which will force this area to be repopulated with inhabitants from beyond Sierra Morena. The Christians will stay in the Vilches castle And the Muslims will return to Giribola.

It will be King Fernando III who gives up the territory of Vilches to the Council of Baeza, until Felipe IVin 1627, release him and grant him the The title of Villa.

The number of Vilches with railway station, already in 1900.

The history of the term Segura de la Sierra dates back to the 4th millennium BC, according to the many archaeological sites that testify to the human presence in those times.

Very close to the city centre is the settlement called The Old Onea few kilometres from the village of Moralejos and that it has always been attributed to peoples as Iberians and Phoenicians, being later the scene of wars between Romans and Carthaginians.

But it is, no doubt, with the Islamic people (781) when the population they call Saqura lived the golden era as a strong square in the area. In the 9th and 10th centuriesAfter the collapse of the Cordoba caliphate, Segura de la Sierra has several periods of independence that make it important.

It will be conquered by the Christian troops, becoming dependent on the Order of Santiago by the donation of Alfonso VIII. In 1243, with King Fernando III, he passed to the crown of Castile and within the kingdom of Murcia until 1833, the year in which the current province of Jaén was created.

In 1517, after the visit by Carlos I to the square, the fountain is built in his honor. A Renaissance source, though clearly of transition. In 16th century had a a time of great splendor, provided by the large amount of wood produced in its territory and which, transported by the Guadalquivir River, supplied all of Andalusia.

In 18th century, the State has converted the saw, under the name of saw of Segura, Maritime Province, No doubt you need wood for the construction of your ships. The Napoleonic invasion (1810) turned the population into a huge stake, destroying the files and taking part of its history.

illustrious characters:

• Jorge Manrique (1440-1479), a Spanish poet and author of "Cops for my father's death," considered one of the capital works of Spanish literature. The origin of his birth is discussed with Paredes de Nava (Palencia)

The first settlers have bequeathed us a great set of Rupestrian Paints, including the the cave of Apolinario mid-fourth millennium BC

During Bronze age, II millennium BC, and linked to the consolidation of the metallurgy of Sierra Morena, there was an intense occupation of these lands with several villages.

The origins of current location date Iberian stage, a oppidum (fortified village), identified as Ilurgeia. This town would leave us the treasures of "Experts"(currently at the Archaeological Museum of Madrid) and the"Alameda"(at the Provincial Archaeological Museum).

During the Roman era the Via Augusta and fortification of peoples.
It is the Visigoths who change the Roman name of Ilugo for San Estebanfrom which the present name derives.

During Islamic period is mentioned as Sant Astiban or Sant Istiban.

From the al- Andalus period we have remained strong like that of San Esteban, Torrealber or Poyato.

The Christian conquest was carried out by Fernando III in the year 1,226. Your son, Alfonso X Santisteban as a village to Ubedawhich would be for a short time, since in 1285 Sancho IV granted the Villa Real's privilege.

From the 14th to the 19th century, Santisteban's history was linked to the House of the Benavids. In this situation it will remain until 1,812, the year when the Cortes de Cadiz decreed the abolition of the Lordships.

For many years there have been disputes over the demarcation of municipal terms between the three towns that made up the county, Santisteban, Castellar and Navas de San Juan.

The history of Linares has always been very linked to the mining. The lead filons of their lands attracted different peoples and cultures to this enclave. It was a claim for the Tartessa, Greek, Phoenician, Carthaginian, Visigodic and Arab peoples. Of all of them, archaeological vestiges have been found in the area.

Within the municipal term was founded in the 6th century BC the Iberian city of Catuluswhich would later become the capital of Oretania (a large territory that also included areas of Ciudad Real and Albacete) with great mining, agricultural and flourishing trade wealth.

They would also exploit these mines for the extraction of lead and silver. To ensure control of the main mining sites, General Anibal took the Princess Ibera Homily (born in Catulus), but without success, as the Carthaginians were defeated.

The Romans will magnify this city through all kinds of privileges (such as the continued coining of their own currency), making Catulo a city with first-class infrastructure such as hot springs, aljibes and even a forum and an amphitheater. The wealth of Catulus was such that chronists of the size of Estrabón, Polibio, Plinio el Viejo or Tito Livio speak of it in their writings. With the wars, Cástulo disappeared, and the population took refuge in the atalaya of the mines, becoming dependent on Baeza. The current city owes its name to a place close to Cástulo, called Linarium.

Liners it does not appear in the historical archives until 1155, reign Alfonso VII, which at that time was a village that depended on Baeza. In the mid-16th century, thanks to agriculture and livestock, commercial activity and the population are increasing, giving Philip II the title of villa. During the 17th and 18th centuries, mining activity increases considerably and focuses on lead extraction.

As early as the 19th century, the city is considered one of the most important centers in the province of Jaén. With the arrival of the new machinery and mining techniques, as well as the development of the rail as a means of transport of the mineral, Linares reaches its further progress. The intense mining activity attracts migrants to the new jobs generated by mining and makes the population more than six-fold in a short time. In 1875, King Alfonso XII granted him the title of city.

The mining area Liners - The Carolina would become the first producer of lead of the world. The first labour movements are emerging as a result of wage inequalities between workers and employers.

But in the 20th century, mining activity is beginning to decline to the point where all mines are closed. In parallel, a powerful industry, of which Santana Motor It's the flagship.
With the arrival of the 21st century and the end of Santana Motor, the activity of the city is focused on the services as one of its main economic axes.

In the 18th century, the enlightened king Carlos III and its ministers (Aranda, Jovellanos and Campomans) decide to create the New Populations in Sierra Morena. At the head of the repopulation he put the Superintendent Pedro Olavidewho would be responsible for the settlement of settlers from France, Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland.

In 1767, the The strength of the New Populationsestablishing the regulations and rules governing these new settlements, different from those of the rest of the country. This year, and near La Peñuela, a former Carmelite convent, La Carolina is founded, which would be the capital of all the new settlements in Sierra Morena.

The beautiful city of La Carolina is the best example of the city of Enlightenment. It is known as the City Jewel of the Holy Kingdom. This was designed as a Roman camp; that is, following two axes that are crossed, one from N to S, which is called cardo and another called decumano, from E to O that in the City Hall square is where they are, indicating this crossing the city center, according to the design of Simon Desnaux, supervised by Olavide. The avenues of Las Huertas and Juan Carlos I are the main lines for the division of the land. The result of its urbanization is an orthogonal mesh that divides it into squares, with streets and straight and wide avenues.

In the mid-19th century, La Carolina began the exploitation of its rich Argentine lead filons. Previous mining work already existed, but it will now be when a large-scale exploitation begins that will lead you, in the early and mid-20th century, to become the world's largest Argentine lead producer along with the nearby Linares, under the territorial delimitation of Linares- La Carolina mining district.

This led to a strong immigration of workers from nearby provinces that significantly changed their demography and sociology, even to the birth of populations around these farms such as El Centenillo or El Guindo.

But the mining crisis meant the closure of all the mines in the 1970s. Thus today, the buildings linked to this activity have become part of the landscape as witnesses to its industrial past, being inscribed in the catalogue of the Institute of Historical Heritage of Andalusia.

For a few decades, La Carolina has been in the industrialization sector and is now a city full of future.

The name of "Carboneros" it mentions its wealth and ancient mining activity that dates back to the times of General Cartaginese Anibal.

The written sources of the silver mines in the area of Catulus mention the Well of Baebelo, identified in the mining village of Palazuelos, in the municipal term of Carboneros. In this mine, large amounts of silver were obtained.

After the Roman conquest, the mine continues to operate as the sources and ceramic materials testify.

The current urban and landscape configuration has the imprint of the people of Colonization founded by the king Charles III in 1767, within the New villages of Sierra Morena.

In Carboneros the process begins with the construction of five houses, a church, a prison compound and a posite. The process was consolidated and the population continued to increase, while specializing in olive cultivation. The new planning, in addition to seeking a new social project, also carries out a different urbanism, with straight streets, with a main street that flows into the square, in which the church and the buildings of the civil and religious powers are located.

Dependents of Carboneros, several villages are created as The Ajuchar, The Bureau and The necks. It is sought with these new population centres, that the peasants dwell closer to the lands they have to cultivate to avoid investing time in displacement.

These new sites are built under the classic precepts of symmetry and order that were established for the rest of the locations of the Colonization.

In 2017, the 250 anniversary of the New Populations was celebrated in this town, and in others around it, with the organization of numerous events and activities, including an International Congress.

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.