Jaén in 1, 2 and 3 days

JAÉN, JAÉN, AUTHENTIC. Cultural Heritage, Nature and Gastronomy in 3 days .

Imagine your trip to Jaén and create your own route. Jaén is a lively, welcoming city, with short distances to feel the atmosphere of its streets. Stop at the squares and in some streets to share with the people of Jaén the tapas culture, the best way to get to know the authentic live style of Jaén.  

Anyway, we suggest you a three-day itinerary, taking in the most important sights in the city.

DAY 01

YOUR MUST-SEE PLACES IN JAÉN. What you cannot miss out

 1º Start your day trip in Jáen by visiting Santa Catalina Castle and enjoying a unique landscape from its towers, where the city seems to get lost among endless olive trees groves and big mountains. Once you get out of the castle, follow the cobblestone path to reach the Cruz. Taking a selfie from here is a must!

2º On your way to the city centre, stop at the viewpoint in Duque Street, from which the Cathedral majestically rises among colourful narrow streets.

3º   Jaén’s Cathedral: you have already seen it from different angles, but you’ll be able to appreciate its actual magnitude and beauty once you find yourself under its vaults and columns, go through its upper galleries and discover one of the greatest relics of Christendom: The True Face of Jesus.

4º Did you know that every time you order a drink in Jaén, you’ll get free tapas? If you go just outside the Cathedral, you’ll be in the best area to get lost and discover the quaintest tascas and bars in the city. You don’t have to miss our Cornezuelo olives, pipirrana (a fresh salad), choto al ajillo (kid’s stew), migas con sus avíos (Spanish breadcrumbs with meat and vegetables) and some potato chips while having tapas in Jaén.

5º   Let’s make our way into the origins of the city, where water plays a key role. On our first stop we’ll visit the biggest and best-preserved Arab Baths in Europe, located in Villardompardo Palace. Here you can also visit the International Museum of Naïf Art and the Museum of Arts and Popular Customs, as well as many other cultural activities such as temporary exhibitions. On our next stop of our tour, we’ll visit Magdalena Church, being the oldest in the city, it has been built on a Moorish mosque, whose minaret and sahn have remained untouched up to our days. In front of the church we can see the eponymous fountain, Raudal de la Magdalena, the place where Jaén was born back in Roman times. This fountain is also known as the place where the famous legend of the Lizzard of Jaén originated, and today it’s considered to be one of the Ten Treasures of Inmaterial Culture in Spain.

‘You don’t want to miss on our Extra Virgin Olive Oil while visiting the city. Try it on a toast, our typical dishes or take it home with you. You’ll not find a better souvenir of Jaén.’

DAY 02

UNIQUE PLACES. Our past, present and future

1º Today we’ll go on to discover other historic monuments such as the Convent of Santo Domingo, which was the main building of the third Inquisition Court in Andalusia. Worth visiting is its beautiful Renaissance cloister, which is considered to be the best in the city.

2º Let’s now take a look inside the Jewish Quarter to get to know one of the most distinguished characters, Hasday Ibn Sharprut, who was a Jewish doctor from Jaén and a diplomat for the caliphs of Al-Andalus. The Holy Chapel of San Andrés, probably a Jewish Synagogue, is also worth a visit, as it contains a marvellous iron grill by Master Bartolomé that represents the genealogical tree of Virgin Mary, also called “The Tree of Jesse”.

3º Head towards the beautiful San Bartolomé Square and go inside its church to see the Moorish ceiling (artesonado) and one of the best five ceramic-glazed baptismal fonts from the 15th in Spain. Walk from there to the Santiago Shelter, which is a testimony of the bombing suffered by civilian population in 1937 during the Spanish Civil War. This shelter is also known as the ‘Andalusian Guernica’.

4º Not too far from the shelter you can visit the Moorish Styled Room (Salón Mudéjar), which is inside the old Condestable Iranzo Palace and it still preserves a magnificent mudejar ceiling (artesonado) that dates back from the 15th century. Now walk through Bernabé Soriano Street, also known as la Carrera, until you reach the Provincial Palace, which used to be the Convent of San Francisco.

When it’s time to have breakfast or lunch, go to San Ildefonso Quarter, one of Jaén’s most striking and authentic neighbourhoods and a gastronomic benchmark of the local cuisine, as two of its restaurants, Bagá and Dama Juana, have been granted two Michelin Stars. Do not miss either the Minor Basilica of San Idelfonso, the Convent of the Bernardas and Alameda Park.

Did you know that there is a notarial deed stating one of the most important historical events happened in the city? We are talking about the descent of Virgin Capilla onto Jaén in the early morning of 11^th June 1430.

5º In the afternoon we recommend going to the two big museums in the city: the Museum of Jaén and the Iberian Museum, both located in Paseo de la Estación.

Worth visiting in the Museum of Jaén is its archaeological section. It contains an outstanding collection of pieces of Iberian culture and a part of it can be visited in the permanent exhibition of the Iberian Museum.

Do not miss the Fine Art Section inside the Museum of Jaén, where some of the top attractions are the engraving of Picasso and a compilation of the work by Manuel Ángeles Ortiz, one of the best-known Andalusian artists during the avant-garde movement of the 20th century.

 Day 03

FEEL GREEN  . A Breath-taking Natural Landscape

Don’t lose the opportunity to explore the natural landscape of Jaén while you’re visiting us:

Hiking:

The green corridor of Jabalcuz is a wonderful hike that takes you up from city to the romantic Gardens of Jabalcuz, which were conceived by the same designer of Retiro Park in Madrid. At the beginning of the path, we can also see the old washing places of Fuente de la Peña and Cristo del Arroz Hermitage.

LINEAL

APROX. DISTANCE: 6 KM

DIFFICULTY: LOW

In the surroundings of the Castle of Santa Catalina, a protected park of the city, you can walk through two short-distance paths: PR-A 126, also known as ‘Sendero de la Muralla’ and PR-A 127, known as ‘Sendero Pinares del Neveral’. They’re both circular routes that are linked together, which means you can do a much longer hike if you wish so.

PR-A 126                                 PR-A 127                  

CIRCULAR                                                       CIRCULAR

APROX. DISTANCE: 6 KM                   APROX. DISTANCE: 10 KM

DIFFICULTY: LOW                                DIFFICULTY: LOW

Bike routes: The Olive Oil Green Way used to be an old train track that linked Linares with Puente Genil and whose mission was to transport oil in bulk. That’s the reason why it was commonly known as the ‘Oil Train’. Nowadays its starting point is in Jaén and it involves a total of 128 km that go through a beautiful landscape, dotted with 13 metallic viaducts from the 19th century.

Hikes in the nearby mountains up until the Pandera Sierra or from the Cañada de las Hazadillas, a recreational area, to the Chimba Shelter, which is used for shepherds and mountaineers and from where you can enjoy  spectacular views over the mountains, reservoir and valleys surrounding Jaén.

Outstanding climbing routes backed up by the best climbers in the world, in places such as Reguchillo, the southern hillside of Santa Catalina Castle or in Otiñar, a valley that is considered to be a Cultural Park where you can also visit some cave paintings and ruins of an old Muslim fortification.