Castillo de Santa Catalina and the Parador de Jaén.
If coming to the city of Jaén, you have to visit the Castillo de Santa Catalina. Sitting high above the city, it is a Moorish Castle built in the 11th century. Right next to the Castle is the Parador of Jaén, a luxury hotel built in the 1960’s. The views of the city from both the Castle and the Parador are phenomenal.
This post tells you about both the Castle and the Parador and gives you information on visiting them.
The Castillo de Santa Catalina
A bit of History
Islamic Period
When the Moors took control of Jaén (and Spain) in 711 AD, they built a small fortress about halfway up Santa Catalina hill. It was the residence of the Islamic rulers. In the 11th century, with increasing pressure from other Muslim kingdoms as well as Christian forces, they decided to build a larger fortress at the very top of the hill.
Christian Era
In 1246, the Christians under King Ferdinand III conquered Jaén. Under his rule, the castle was enlarged and Santa Catalina castle became the official residence of the new Christian rulers. During this period the castle became an important defensive stronghold in the fight against attacks by the Granadan Muslims and Berber pirates. It was only after Granada was defeated (in 1492) that the castle started losing its military value.
French control
In 1808 Spain was under the rule of the French, led at the time by Napoleon Bonaparte. The Spanish took arms against them in the Peninsula War (also called the War of Independence). During the war, Santa Catalina castle was the largest and most important base of the French army in the Upper Guadalquivir region. They built several new structures in the castle including underground prisons (which you can see today). When the French were finally defeated, they destroyed parts of the castle.
Visiting the Castle today
Some of the castle has been restored but much is still in ruins. There isn’t that much honestly within the walls of the castle – the setting however is incredible. On two sides is the city far below, on another views of olive groves as far as the eye can see, on another the mountains behind the castle.
Just outside the entrance to the castle is a path that leads from the castle to a huge cross on a rocky promontory. Here the views of the city are even more impressive with views looking straight down on Jaén’s Cathedral.
How to get to the castle: The best way is by taxi, which will take about 15 minutes from the town center (it cost us 11 Euros each way). You can, in theory, walk up but it is convoluted and in places there’s a road with no sidewalk. I’m told it will take up to 1 ½ hours to walk up.
Cost to enter castle: 3.50 Euros.
Parador de Jaén
Right next to the Castle is the Parador. It was built in 1960 and looks like something out of “Mad Men”, with a cosy and romantic setting. There’s a café/restaurant when you enter that has a huge fireplace. A nice place to come for a coffee (as we did)
A few photos:
The Parador is good for a special stay. We thought of staying there but we thought it was a bit pricy: 258 Euros for the day we were in Jaén. But looking at Booking.com, prices bounce around a bit and you can get a room for 100 Euros/night on some days.
The other issue with the Parador is that it’s isolated: you can’t just go outside and take a walk around the city center. As I say, it’s a 15-minute drive from downtown.
But if you’re looking for a special stay in an incredibly scenic location and the restaurant service that Paradors are known for, then you should consider staying in the Parador de Jaén.
Related: The Best of Jaén
Another excellent article Frank. I don’t know how you guys can keep on doing all this traveling. I know Alsa is cheap but what I’ve noticed is that the Airbnb’s in these smaller towns or cities are very expensive compared to the bigger ones. At first my wife and I were thinking to plan our next vacation in Córdoba for a week. We decided on Sevilla instead because it’s cheaper there than it is in Córdoba and there is more to see. We’ll go at the end of March which is not even high season. Renting is cheaper in Córdoba and that why I was a bit surprised that Airbnb’s are so expensive. Same in Jaén. They certainly are not shy asking.
Hi Carlo! I find in general prices are quite expensive almost anywhere. We stayed here on our 1st stay in Jaen and we found it good value (I see it listed at 75 Euros/night now). On our latest trip (last week) we stayed at the Hotel Condestable Irazo which cost 85 Euros. Not good value. But we had a great hotel in Ubeda which we booked a day before and which cost 55 Euros. Called the Alvar Fanez.
Usually anything less than 3 nights I book a hotel room, anything more than 3 an Airbnb. There’s no value in an Airbnb if you get it for less than 3 nights I find.
But yes, generally I find prices have gone up everywhere. Airbnb charges so much commission now and the cost is passed on to the customer. We tend to book more and more apartments on Booking.com now. Earlier this year we toured the Costa Blanca, Murcia and Almeria area for a month and our cost averaged 60 Euros/night. That’s good. But I find costs in spring and summer crazy and try not to travel around Spain during that time. In June we had to stay a night in Torremolinos before an early morning flight and the hotel cost 195 Euros. Yikes!