Jaén: the Renaissance city the tour buses forget

Jaén’s cathedral is the third great Renaissance work by Andrés de Vandelvira, after Úbeda and Baeza — and the largest. Its huge twin-towered west front dominates the Plaza de Santa María. Inside, the sacristy and the chapter house are considered Vandelvira’s masterpiece and among the finest Renaissance rooms in Spain. The cathedral also holds the Santo Rostro, a relic said to bear the face of Christ, shown to the public on certain days.

A Moorish fortress crowns the hill above the city, rebuilt and extended over centuries and now a protected monument. You can walk the walls and towers, and part of the site is the Parador hotel. The real draw is the setting: the city far below on one side, olive groves to the horizon on another, and mountains behind.

Hidden in the basement of a 16th-century palace lie the best-preserved and largest Arab baths open to visitors in Spain. Built in the 11th century and covering around 450 square metres, they follow the classic cold, warm and hot rooms, lit by star-shaped skylights in the vaults. The same palace houses two small museums, so one ticket covers all of it.

This large basilica near the old town has three doorways in three different styles — Gothic, Renaissance and Neoclassical — added over the centuries. It is the church of the Virgen de la Capilla, the patron of the city, and its square is a good spot for a coffee.

Jaén’s town hall, also known as the Municipal Palace, is a handsome three-storey building with a clock on its front and a run of balconies. It faces a broad pedestrian square in the heart of the city, a natural place to pause on a walk through the centre. A fine, easy-to-photograph example of the city’s civic architecture.

Just beyond the castle, a short path leads to a huge stone cross on a rocky spur. This is the city’s best viewpoint. From here you look straight down on the cathedral and out over the endless olive plain. It is the classic Jaén photo, and it is at its finest at sunset.

The best way to see Jaén is on foot. Walk uphill from the Plaza de la Constitución to the cathedral, then on into the Barrio de la Magdalena. This is the city’s oldest quarter, a warren of narrow streets with almost no gift shops. It was once the Moorish and Jewish heart of Jaén. At its centre sits the Iglesia de la Magdalena, the oldest church in the city, built on a former mosque. Its courtyard pool is fed by the Raudal spring, which local legend ties to the “Lizard of Jaén”. It is a short, steep, rewarding loop, and a free town map from the tourist office is all you need. Go early or late to dodge the midday heat.

Jaén produces more olive oil than anywhere on earth, and the local extra-virgin is a world away from a supermarket bottle. Many bars pour it over toast at breakfast for the price of a coffee. For the deeper version, an olive-oil tasting or a mill visit in the countryside teaches you to read the fruit, the bitterness and the pepper the way a local does — the difference a guide makes here is learning to taste, not just to sip.

Drive up to the castle in the late afternoon and walk out to the cross for golden hour. The light across the olive plain is the thing people remember most about Jaén. Bring water and decent shoes — the path is short but the sun is strong.

In Jaén, a drink usually comes with a free tapa, so a tapas crawl is a cheap and delicious way to spend an evening. The lanes around the Plaza de la Constitución and Calle Nueva are thick with bars. Order a local wine or a cold beer and see what arrives.