The historic city of Jaén is located in south-central Spain with a name derived from the Arabic Yayyan (crossroads of caravans). Jaén is probably best known as the biggest producer of olive oil (or liquid gold as the locals refer call it) in the world.

The oldest part of the city is dominated by an Arab fortress that stands proudly on a rocky crag on Santa Catalina hill overlooking the valley of the River Guadalquivir. It originated from a tower erected by Hannibal and the site was fortified continuously over the centuries. The Nasrid King Alhamar who built the Alhambra in Granada constructed an alcazar which was subsequently captured by King Ferdinand III in 1246 on the feast day of Santa Catalina. Santa Catalina consequently became the patron saint of Jaen’s patron, and when the Christians built a new castle and a chapel on this site they were dedicated to her.

The core of the city’s historic quarter is the Santa Iglesia Cathedral which is a spectacular sixteenth century Renaissance building contrasting sharply with the white houses which surround it. The ornate facade was sculpted by Pedro Roldan and if you look up at the figures on top of the columns you can see San Fernando surrounded by the four evangelists. The chapter house, main chapel, choir stalls and sacristy provide excellent examples of the art of this period.

There is a small museum in the cathedral which was once a 1547 mansion, and includes a fine arts section with a room of Goya lithographs. At the larger Museo Provincial of Jaen in the modern part of the city you can see one of Spain’s leading collections of Iberian art from pre-Roman times

As you walk from the cathedral along the narrow alleyways you will come across some Arab Baths which once belonged to a Moorish king who ruled Jaen in the 11th century and feature ceilings with star windows, horseshoe arches and delicate capitals. Four hundred years later a viceroy of Peru built the Palacio de Villardompardo right over them, and it has taken years of painstaking excavation to restore the baths to their original form.

Jaen has a number of fascinating churches including La Santa Capilla de San Andres, Convents of Las Bernardas and Santo Domingo, Churches of La Magdalena, San Ildefonso, San Bartolomé and San Juan and the streets surrounding the churches are where you will find the best local cuisine. Olive oil obviously features heavily with starters including pipirrana salad with peppers, tomatoes and garlic), gazpacho cachorreño cold soup made with bread, chorizo sausage, oil, vinegar and salt and alboronía for vegetarians which is a stew with broad beans, onions and aubergines. Recommendations for main courses are kid with garlic, cod stew or pie stuffed with vegetables and for dessert tries the sweet tarts filled with walnuts or tocinos de cielo custard made with egg yolk, sugar and figs.

The modern part of Jaen is also a great place to explore with the Plaza de San Francisco, Plaza de la Constitución and Plaza de Las Batallas with wide avenues off which lead to Victoria Park and the Provincial Museum. It is an area full of shops, bars and restaurants which retains all the charm of the province.