These more or less realistic but generally schematic manifestations reproduce human beings, animals and symbols, forming isolated scenes. The representations not only evoke and report part of daily life, but leave us witness to its complex and mysterious spirituality.

World Heritage Site

Sierra Magina houses an interesting set of rock art, especially those related to the Municipality of Jimena, being a very interesting example of schematic rock paintings. In 1998 it became part of the UNESCO catalogue as World Heritage Site.

Outdoor museums

These sites can be considered as authentic outdoor museums of incalculable value, whose preservation concerns each and every fellow citizen. When visiting them, we must remember that we contemplate figures made by the primitive man, not least human and intelligent, more than 4,000 years ago. It's all by law, Cultural Interest Property.

Visit the paintings

Visiting these places can be difficult and frustrating, not only because of their access; it can be dangerous, but because sometimes their conservation status is the least poor; and it is recommended that they be visited with a specialist. For this purpose, before scheduling the visit, it is advisable to consult with someone familiar with the place (to advise and guide) or even to be accompanied by a responsible local guide (it is advisable to contact local authorities or associations).

The Abrigo de la Graja stands out.

The Former Convent of Santo Domingo, in La Guardia de Jaén, is one of the most distinctive landmarks of the Renaissance of the South. Declared a Historical Monument in 1975, it preserves the former conventual church — today the Parish of the Assumption —, part of the cloister, and the remains of the conventual palace, forming an ensemble of great historical and artistic interest.

Founded in the 16th century by Don Rodrigo Messía Carrillo and Doña Mayor de Fonseca, lords of La Guardia with ties to Salamanca, the Dominican convent began construction in 1538. From 1542 onwards, the work took on a new dimension with the involvement of Andrés de Vandelvira, one of the great masters of the Andalusian Renaissance, who introduced innovative architectural solutions in the main chapel and the transept.

The main chapel, with its octagonal floor plan, follows models found in Alonso de Vandelvira's Libro de las Traças (Book of Designs) and is structured through a carefully applied Classical order. The transept is covered by a domed vault with a lantern, resting on four corner piers, creating a space of great balance and clarity. Inside, a remarkable iconographic programme is preserved, with coffered ceilings decorated with Dominican saints, prophets and apostles, as well as reliefs by Juan de Reolid depicting the Passion and Resurrection of Christ.

The ensemble reflects the dialogue between Castilian influences — stemming from the Salamanca background of its founders — and the mastery of the Jaén Renaissance, in collaboration with other stonemasons such as Domingo de Tolosa and Francisco del Castillo. Despite the transformations brought about by the disentailment (desamortización) and its later uses, the former convent still retains Renaissance coffered ceilings, remains of mural painting, a sacristy with a 1547 wooden ceiling (alfarje), and an 18th-century black jasper washbasin.

The Former Convent of Santo Domingo is today part of the Renaissance of the South Route, standing as an outstanding example of religious architecture linked to the figure of Vandelvira and to the artistic splendour of the 16th century in the province of Jaén.

Calle Escuelas, 11. 23170, La Guardia de Jaén 
Information and bookings
953 32 71 00

Among the Caserio de Larva is the old Town Hall, located in an altozano, with narrow walls, large symmetrical and verticalized voids, adapted to the slight level of heights of the street, and which is distinguished from the typology of the houses surrounding it by a prismatic, higher fronton, which hosts a watch and a small bell, following the model of the consistory houses of the illustrated colonization.