Now you can visit the emblematic monuments of Mengíbar from your smartphone or PC. Just click on the button below to start your visit, see you inside!
The keep is an impressive ashlar bastion more than 25 metres high. Nowadays, restored and open to visitors, it is considered one of the best fortifications in the province of Jaén. Inside it houses three superimposed chambers, the lower one with access to the cistern and covered by a brick vault, and the upper ones with vaults separated by pointed stone and brick arches. In the chambers you can see the jars embedded in the floor where provisions were stored to keep them supplied during the winters. From the terrace of the tower there are unbeatable views of the town as a whole and the surrounding landscape crossed by the Guadalquivir River.
Adjacent to the Tower you will find this Palace House which belonged to the Ponce de León, Counts of Garcíez, Dukes of Sessa and Montemar and several generations of the De la Chica family, until its current owner, the Town Hall of Mengíbar. The entrance is set in a crenellated wall, behind which opens the porticoed courtyard that serves as the centrepiece of the building. In its galleries you can see numerous Iberian and Roman finds discovered in Cerro Maquiz, the old Iliturgi. A doorway, dated 1663, leads to the entrance to the residence. Nowadays, it houses a hotel, with lounges, restaurant, and even the thermal baths converted into a spa, where the history of the town is recalled.
In Calle Jaén, not far from the square, the remarkable façade of the Casa de la Inquisición (House of the Inquisition) stands out, so called because its lintel bears the emblem of the Holy Office. Dating from the end of the 17th century, it offers a balanced composition with a cushioned doorway and a window above it with a projecting wrought iron grille and decoration of coats of arms, pinnacles and various motifs carved in stone.
The first temple in Mengíbar, perhaps built on the site of a mosque, was begun in the 15th century and completed in the early 17th century. It is a magnificent example of Renaissance architecture in Jaén. Francisco del Castillo <>and Alonso Barba, a follower of Andrés de Vandelvira who completed his work around 1580, were involved in its construction. It has a basilica floor plan with three naves under vaulted ceilings resting on thick cylindrical supports and cruciform pillars, with a flat-ended chancel and a vault with coffered ceilings over the presbytery, on which the coats of arms of the Ponce de León family, sponsors of the first 16th-century altarpiece, and heads of saints in relief can be seen. On the pendentives of the half-orange vault, above the high altar, plaster coats of arms of the bishop of Jaén, Sancho Dávila, and another with the keys of San Pedro. In the upper part of the altarpiece there is a statue of Saint Peter seated with his pontifical attributes and surrounded by groups of angels.
The Iberian city of Iliturgi, one of the most important in the Upper Guadalquivir, was located in Mengíbar. The Hannibal Way passed through its vicinity and it was located in a strategic place of communication routes. Iliturgi was the protagonist of several clashes in the Second Punic War which finally led to its destruction by Scipio Africanus in 206 BC. Excavations being carried out by the Mengíbar Town Council with the University of Jaén are documenting the remains of the siege and destruction of the city, as well as monumental remains of its fortifications.
This church was originally designed as a parish hall. It was inaugurated in 1980 and was attached to the parish of San Pedro. It was not until 1985 that it was separated and renamed “Parroquia de la Inmaculada Concepción” (Parish of the Immaculate Conception). In 1996 work began on the construction of a new building, as the roof was too low. The work was completed in 1998 and it was blessed as it exists today. In 2010, coinciding with the 25th anniversary of its construction, modifications were made to the temple and paintings were placed in the presbytery.
On the first floor of the multi-purpose building at Calle Miguel López Moral, 6, is this semi-permanent exhibition by local sculptor Eulogio Calleja Grajera, where we can learn about the methods used in the harvesting and production of our liquid gold since Roman times through small handmade miniatures.
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