Spain is full of contrasts, though many of you have been to Spain on holiday, most have not as yet ventured inland where some of the true treasures are to be found. During the 10 months we have been in Spain we have visited many of these treasures.
Thus far we have not been the best at showing you them. So we hope you will enjoy these pictures and musings from our latest visit. The advantage of traveling in a motorhome is your ability to change direction a seek out the different and unexpected. Our Elddis Encore has done us proud cover just under 13,000 miles of Spain in 10 months.
Úbeda and Baeza, are in the backwaters of Andalucía, Jaen province, the centre of olive growing in Spain if not the world. Spain produces just under 20% of the world’s Olive oil and Jaen province alone produces 70% of Spain’s production!
So what makes these two towns so special? Well back in the 1500’s some of the local nobles did very well in the wool trade, and one in particular rose to the highest levels of court. With their new found wealth, they invested heavily in building some of the most stunning Renaissance buildings in Spain. As the two towns slipped back into backwaters these lovely buildings were left alone and thus were saved for us to see in all their glory. As UNESCO says:
‘This planning intervention was part of the introduction into Spain of new humanistic ideas from Italy, which went on to have a great influence on the architecture of Latin America.’
So here are some of pictures of these most lovely places.
Mary Thorpe says
Can you tell us where these places are?
David says
Mary, thanks for your comment, very helpful, have updated the post, to put a map in so you can see where exactly we are. All the best David
Carole says
Thanks, map was helpful – though I still had to google the location of Cordoba to pinpoint it! Cx
David says
Well we tried but taking on board your comment will try and add maps with posts in future
Gilda Baxter says
It is fantastic to discover and explore such charming places, it does pay off getting away from the Spanish coastline and into its beautiful interior. Thanks for sharing