Travel blog - Tips to explore the world on a budget: Baeza

Baeza is one of Spain's smallest UNESCO World Heritage cities and is known for its impressive Renaissance architecture in the heart of Andalusia's olive-growing region. Often called the "Andalusian Salamanca," it features many 16th-century palaces, churches, and university buildings that turned this former medieval fortress into a Renaissance gem. As you walk along Baeza's honey-colored stone streets, you can see traces of civilizations from the Bronze Age, the Moors, and the Christians. The poet Antonio Machado taught French here from 1912 to 1919 and described it as "a damp and cold town, ramshackle and gloomy, between Andalusian and La Mancha." Today, visitors find Baeza charming, peaceful, and very well preserved.​