Bailén (archaically known as Baylen in English) is a town in the province of Jaén, Spain.

History

Bailén is probably the ancient Baecula, where the Romans, under Scipio the Elder, signally defeated the

Carthaginians The Punic people, usually known as the Carthaginians (and sometimes as Western Phoenicians), were a Semitic people, Semitic people who Phoenician settlement of North Africa, migrated from Phoenicia to the Western Mediterranean during the Iron ...

in 209 and 206 B.C. In its neighbourhood, also, in 1212, was fought the great

Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa The Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa, known in Islamic history as the Battle of Al-Uqab (), took place on 16 July 1212 and was an important turning point in the ''Reconquista'' and the Spain in the Middle Ages, medieval history of Spain. The Christian ...

, in which, according to the ancient chroniclers, the

Castilians Castilians () are the inhabitants of the historical region of Castile in central Spain. However, the boundaries of the region are disputed. Not all people in the regions of the medieval Kingdom of Castile or Crown of Castile think of themsel ...

under Alphonso VIII, slew 200,000

Almohads The Almohad Caliphate (; or or from ) or Almohad Empire was a North African Berber Muslim empire founded in the 12th century. At its height, it controlled much of the Iberian Peninsula (Al-Andalus) and North Africa (the Maghreb). The Almohad ...

, and themselves only lost 25 men. Although this estimate is absurd, the victory of the Christians was complete. There is a

convent A convent is an enclosed community of monks, nuns, friars or religious sisters. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The term is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican ...

that dates from 729. The city of Bailén has a large industrial activity of ceramics, wine and hospitality, along with the cultivation of herbaceous crops and the development of an olive oil industry. The municipal area of Bailén borders the municipalities of Baños de la Encina and Guarromán to the north and west, Linares to the east, to the south with

Jabalquinto Jabalquinto is a city located in the province of Jaén, Spain. According to the 2005 census ( INE), the city has a population of 2,420 inhabitants. See also * List of municipalities in Jaén Jaén is a province in the autonomous community ...

and Espeluy, and with Villanueva de la Reina. The parish church of Nuestra Señora de la Encarnación, which was built in the 15th century, in the Elizabethan Gothic style, is one of the greatest architectural exponents of the town, declared a Historical Monument. Also noteworthy are the hermitages of Nuestra Señora de la Soledad ( 15th century ), in Gothic style, the hermitages of Jesús and El Cristo, both in baroque style ( 18th century ), that of the Virgin of Zocueca, built between the 17th and 18th centuries. xviii and the parish of San José Obrero, along with its neighborhood, which celebrates its festivities in its honor on May 1. In 1808, during the

Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1808–1814) was fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Kingdom of Portugal, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French ...

, it was the site of a series of clashes (the

Battle of Bailén The Battle of Bailén was fought in 1808 between the Spanish Army's Army of Andalusia, under General Francisco Javier Castaños and the French Imperial Army's 2nd Gironde Observational Corps under Divisional-General Pierre Dupont de l'Étan ...

) at which General Castaños defeated General

Pierre Dupont Pierre Dupont (23 April 1821 – 25 July 1870) was a French songwriter. Dupont was born in Lyon as the son of a blacksmith. His mother died before he was five years old, and he was brought up in the country by his godfather, a village priest ...

. The capitulation, signed at

Andújar Andújar () is a Spanish municipality of 35,619 people (2024) in the province of Jaén, in Andalusia. The municipality is divided by the Guadalquivir River. The northern part of the municipality is where the Natural Park of the Sierra de And� ...

by Dupont on the 23rd of July 1808, involved the surrender of 17,000 men to the Spaniards, and was the first severe blow suffered by the French in the Peninsular War.

Climate

Bailén has a

Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate ( ), also called a dry summer climate, described by Köppen and Trewartha as ''Cs'', is a temperate climate type that occurs in the lower mid-latitudes (normally 30 to 44 north and south latitude). Such climates typic ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

: ''Csa'') with very hot, dry summers and mild, moderately wet winters, while precipitation is moderate throughout the year. Due to its location at the eastern end of the

Guadalquivir The Guadalquivir (, also , , ) is the fifth-longest river in the Iberian Peninsula and the second-longest river with its entire length in Spain. The Guadalquivir is the only major navigable river in Spain. Currently it is navigable from Seville ...

, summers tend to be very hot with particularly warm nights, while winters are colder compared to the western areas of the valley. Furthermore, precipitation is scarcer compared to western areas, as it is further away from

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

influences. The lowest temperature ever recorded was on February 10, 2012, while the highest ever recorded was on July 13, 2017.

Economy

The town has many

quarries A quarry is a type of open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to manage their safet ...

, resulting in a reputation for craft products.

Significant Births

* Felipe de Neve Founder of Los Angeles, California. * Gregorio Manzano Football coach.

Twin towns

Móstoles Móstoles () is a municipalities of Spain, municipality of Spain located in the Community of Madrid. With over 200,000 inhabitants, it is the region's second most populated municipality after Madrid. Móstoles was a small town for a long time, but ...

, Spain * Spétses, Greece * Yapeyú, Argentina

Notes

References

External links

Bicentenario de la Batalla de Bailen
Municipalities in the Province of Jaén (Spain) {{andalusia-geo-stub