Jaen

Eli's family is from Jaen and naturally we set up home base there. It is one of the lesser known of eight provinces that make up Andalusia which translates into fewer tourists and a more authentic travel experience; it also means that the historic monuments and tourist attractions, although plentiful, are smaller in scale compared to others in the region. One thing it is known for, which you might have guessed by looking at the picture above, is that it is the olive oil producing capital of the world.

Some of the places we made it to this time are the Moorish Baths, the fair, Jaen's first university, the Castle Santa Catalina and the Children's City.

Jaen's Moorish Baths, some of the largest and best preserved in all of Europe, are found in basement of the Palace of Count Villardompardo. The baths were originally constructed around the 11th century but sometime during the middle of the 13th century, the Christians conquered the city and built the palace on top. After conquering, the Christians would build their cathedrals, churches and other buildings on top of other cultures' temples, mosques and other holy buildings. Maybe they believed that by building their cathedrals and churches on top of other buildings they considered unholy they would somehow purify them. I was not able to take pictures inside because it wasn't allowed but I was able to smuggle out some dirt from one of the baths in the hot water room.

La Feria de la Virgen de la Capilla de Jaén, the smaller of the two fairs during the summer in Jaen takes place some time between the 2nd and 3rd weeks of June. It is a Catholic event complete with a procession but also includes bullfighting and rides and food of course.

Here are some pictures of Jaen's first university. I don't really know much about this place, we ended up here by accident. It is a cool building though.



El Castillo de Santa Catalina sits atop a mountain overlooking the city of Jaen. It was built by the Christians sometime after they conquered the Muslims in the 13th century AD and was a major staging point for conflicts between the Christians and the moors in Granada. We always manage to make it to the castle on our trips maybe because it is cooler there than in the city or maybe it's for the night views of Jaen which are so cool.

La Cuidad de los Niños was an area between two and three acres filled with theme based play equipment.
We ended up visiting this park often because the kids really had fun.