Holy week in Baeza which has been declared of national Tourist Interest is outstanding for the artistic richness of its stages. About twenty brotherhoods parade through the streets and plazas of this Renaissance jewel of Andalusia. Its Corpus Christi, celebrated with great solemnity and rich ornamentation, is no less beautiful. Merrier are the fiestas in honour of its patron saint, held during the second week of August which concludes with the procession of the statue of the Virgin on the shoulders of the Caballeros Horquilleros (Throne- Bearing Knights). This body, one of the most ancient in Spain is made up of seven groups of more than fifty members each who relieve one another during the procession.
Baeza pilgrimage
The pilgrimage of Santo Crito de la Yedra and of the Virgen del Rosel is held the first Sunday in September and its prelude is the so-called little pilgrimage held the last Sunday in august. The worship of the virgin del Rosel dates back to the days of Arab domination. According to popular tradition a blind moor named Rosel, son of the mayor of Rus, heard a divine voice that riled to him where the image of the Virgin was and that if the washed his eyes with water from the spring in the place the Christians had hidden it he would recover his sight. Thankful for the miracle, he ordered a hermitage built for worshipping her. Keep this ancient legend in mind and attend the pilgrimage, both for the beauty of the monuments in Baeza and for the intimacy of the fiesta.
Baeza monuments
Anoint yourself with olive oil, if it doesn’t make you new again it will make you shine. This is one of the phrases that from part of the panel of the Olive Oil museum located in the La Laguna hacienda and in which you can observe all the tools instruments and history of olive culture. And when you are in Baeza you will think that few municipalities have so many attractions to hear and see. Baeza is at once small and large. Its monumental masterpiece is the Cathedral, built over a former mosque. To one side is the former seminary of San felipe neri and the jabalquinto palace. Most of the monuments are found in the environs of the Populo Plaza: La Alhóndiga, the Casas consistoriales Bajas, the Antigua Carnicería, the house and arch of populo and the Los Leones Fountain. On your tour you will encounter the aliatares Tower one of the few Muslim vestiges and along San Pedro Street you will find the best great houses in Baeza.
