The Andalusian twin towns of Úbeda and Baeza in the province of Jaén are considered the best examples of Renaissance style in Spain. However, these two small towns cannot compete with the major centres of Renaissance in Italy, and I would not rank them among the best Spanish WHS, but nevertheless we enjoyed our visit. In both towns, the inscribed area is rather small, just a historic square and a few cobblestone streets. There are no outstanding buildings, the charm is more in the harmony of the architectural ensemble. And that it is calm and sleepy, there are not many tourists, a pleasant change to other sites in Andalusia like Granada or Cordoba.

Coming from Granada by rental car, we first made a detour to the Jaén Cathedral, a possible extension that was withdrawn in 2014 after an unfavourable evaluation by ICOMOS. Well, it's a huge cathedral, quite nice, but it would not add much to the already inscribed parts.

In Úbeda, the inscribed area is a bit off the modern town centre, it consists essentially of the buildings and monuments around the Vázquez Molina Square: Basilica Santa María, Sacra Capilla El Salvador del Mundo, Vázquez de Molina Palace (the town hall), the Palace of the Déan Ortega (today a Parador), the Pósito (former granary, currently the police station). Both churches can be visited with an audioguide, the town hall is accessible during office hours and the Parador has a nice courtyard where we took a coffee break.

Baeza is only a eight kilometres west of Úbeda, the main sights are the cathedral (visit with audioguide) and the Square of Saint Mary with a nice fountain of the same name. Several of the other palaces are used by the Universidad Internacional de Andalucía and you can take a look inside to see the entrance halls and courtyards. Most remarkable is the Palacio de Jabalquinto with an impressive façade (photo) and a richly decorated Baroque staircase (accessible from Monday to Friday, 9 am to 2 pm).

It is hard to say which of the two cities I would prefer, probably Baeza, mainly because we stayed the night in Baeza and at our stroll through the sparsely lit old streets, we felt like taken back in ancient times.

If you plan your visit, you should note that the churches have the typical opening hours in Andalusia with a long siesta break in the afternoon starting at 2 pm. This is true for most sights in Spain and especially in Andalucia, and should be considered if you have a tight schedule. The best is to adapt yourself to the rhythm and also take a siesta. On our round trip we often use these hours to move from one place to another, the main destinations in Andalusia are in a distance that can be covered in less than three hours by car.